


A One Night Thing

by suzvoy



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Childhood Trauma, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Fuckbuddies, Getting Together, Gun Violence, Kidnapping, M/M, Noah Was A Bad Boyfriend, One Night Stands, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reid Has No Idea What He's Doing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-03 13:20:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16327034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzvoy/pseuds/suzvoy
Summary: It was only natural, Reid told himself. He'd helped an attractive young man through a rite of passage – his first one night stand with another guy. Reid had practically performed a public service. He felt a little smug about it, if he was honest, and even a little good about himself.Of course it'd keep playing on his mind.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! More Luke/Reid! \o/
> 
> This is a canon-based AU, assuming that everything on the show happened up until the Mason storyline, which ended differently. Luke and Reid meet elsewhere.
> 
> Rated NC-17 for sex, language and violence. I'd also like to point out that this is set in a soap opera, where STIs pretty much don't exist and characters can sleep with whoever they want, whenever they want, without consequence. Ahem. Thank you, as always, to nel and d <3
> 
> Feedback would be loved :)

Reid hated days like this.

He knew it happened to every doctor on the face of the planet. He knew it happened no matter how good you were. He knew that you could do everything right, and the patient could still code on the table.

But Reid had _liked_ this one.

Reid didn't like people in general. He rarely formed emotional attachments to anyone and certainly not to his patients – they were puzzles to be solved, mysteries to be cracked. Reid had learned a long time ago to see his patients as nothing more than a challenge to be overcome, and though his bedside manner wouldn't be winning him any awards, it worked. His results and referral rate spoke for themselves.

Eddie had got under his skin somehow, though. Probably because he was one of the occasional patients that passed through who didn't give a crap about Reid's lack of bedside manner, he just cared that Reid could get the job done. He kept a sense of humour about the whole thing, too, which was so much more bearable than the patients who just felt sorry for themselves.

Reid had seen it time and time again. The patients who just got on with trying to survive usually had far, far better outcomes than the patients who whined, complained and couldn't believe that something so terrible had happened to _them_ of all people. Their belief that they were 'special' and 'didn't deserve this' drove Reid up the wall. 90% of the people on the planet didn't deserve the crap that happened to them, it was just the way life was.

Only this time, it hadn't worked out for Eddie. Despite Reid's promises.

On days like this, Reid had a set routine – but he knew for a fact that Anton was out of town right now, so he had to settle for an old routine, one he'd developed early on in his career.

Not feeling up to driving, he asked the cab driver to take him to a bar, any bar. Reid emerged from the cab outside one he vaguely recognised – he couldn't tell if it was because he'd been there before or if it was just because all bars tended to look the same.

It wasn't particularly busy – a few old men clustered around the edges, a guy at the back playing pool by himself – but then it wasn't prime drinking time yet. Easily getting a seat at the bar, Reid ordered his drink and when it arrived he left it sitting there, clasping both hands around the glass as he sat in silence.

Reid had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, staring at nothing, when his silent eulogy for Eddie was suddenly interrupted.

“Wow,” said an unfamiliar voice, “that is not the face of a happy man.”

It took Reid a few moments to tune back in and he blinked, turning his head to see Pool Guy from the back of the bar standing next to him. As he watched, Pool Guy ordered a refill.

Normally Reid would've ignored him or just told him to get lost. The guy was attractive, though, and had obviously come over to Reid for a reason. And Reid had had a really bad day.

He decided to be generous. “Bad day,” was all he said, finally taking a sip of his drink.

“I figured,” Pool Guy said, fingers tracing the edge of his own glass. He didn't seem to be making fun. “So you came to drown your sorrows?”

“Got it in one,” Reid concurred, splaying his hands briefly.

Frowning, Pool Guy leaned closer, studying – sniffing? – the contents of Reid's glass. “There's no alcohol in this.”

It only seemed fair to return the favour. “Could say the same about yours.”

“True,” Pool Guy confessed, finally sitting on the stool next to Reid's. “Well, I know why I'm not drinking, but what's your excuse?”

“It's not a good idea for me to drink alcohol.”

“Why?” Pool Guy asked and seemed to be waiting very seriously the answer. “Do things not...end well?”

Reid shook his head at the guy's imagination. “I'm a doctor,” he explained, “a good one. I'm usually on-call-”

“So you shouldn't get drunk,” Pool Guy concluded. “Would help you stay tee-total, I guess,” he said, gaze turning distant before glancing down at his own drink. After a few moments, his head shot back up. “You had a bad day.”

Reid tipped his glass towards him. “Yes, we were both aware of this already.”

“You had a bad day and you're a doctor,” Pool Guy said quickly. “Did you lose-?”

“Yes, I did and no, I don't want to talk about it.” Pool Guy seemed like the type of guy who'd offer to 'talk about what happened'.

“Okay,” Pool Guy said quickly, lowering his head again.

After a few moments, Reid took pity on him. “So what's a guy like you,” and by 'you' he meant 'hot in that All-American farm boy way', “doing playing pool alone in a bar populated only by old white guys?”

Pool Guy just smiled at him with a shrug. “I'm new in town – well, relatively. Work has been hectic, haven't really had a chance to get out until now. Don't know anyone yet,” he finished and seemed to be eyeing Reid hopefully even as he teased him. “Also – do you count as an old white guy?”

The age difference was obvious, so that actually make him chuckle. “Reid,” he gave in, holding his glass towards him.

“Luke,” Pool Guy introduced, looking pleased at getting the laugh out of him as he clunked their glasses together. Luke's phone went off, suddenly. Muttering an apology, he put his drink down and quickly pulled the phone out.

Taking the opportunity to finish the rest of his drink in one gulp, it didn't escape Reid's notice the way Luke's entire body tensed up as he checked his phone. He gave no explanation, however, definitively flicking the phone over to silent.

Reid didn't care anyway, and he knew how to take a hint. Plus they'd been at this long enough already.

“So,” Luke said brightly, after pocketing his phone, “how long have-?”

“Yeah, I don't do this,” Reid interrupted, because there was no point in wasting time.

Luke looked honestly confused. “Don't do what?”

Pulling out his wallet, Reid fished out enough cash for a decent tip and threw it onto the bar as he stood up. “This,” he gestured between them with one hand, pocketing his wallet with the other, “the small talk.”

Luke's lips twitched up at the corners. “'The' small talk?”

Straightening his jacket, Reid just looked at him. “Are we doing this, or not?”

Pausing, Luke frowned for a moment. And then his eyes widened. “Doing...this...?” he asked like he'd only just clued in to what was happening.

“Luke,” Reid said bluntly, holding his gaze, “you know what's happening here. You know why you came over to me.”

A myriad of expressions passed across Luke's face – how did this guy survive, showing everything he was feeling that easily? – but in the end, even though he looked a little embarrassed, Luke nodded decisively. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess I do.”

Good, at least he didn't seem to be a closet case. “So, we're doing this?”

“Yeah,” Luke nodded firmly, not hiding from Reid's searching gaze, “we are.”

Luke really was new in town – he was still in a hotel, which was conveniently located nearby. Reid agreed to that as their destination easily. He didn't have one night stands very often, but he'd never liked the idea of bringing strangers back to his place.

Plus, the hotel was closer.

Luke seemed...contained all the way there and Reid took the opportunity to study him closely as they rode the elevator in silence. They'd picked up the supplies they needed on the way there – Luke didn't have anything in his room, apparently, but this was the type of hotel that provided anything you needed – and though Luke had obviously been embarrassed that hadn't stopped him from going through with it.

Even so, he didn't look like he was particularly enjoying the idea of having sex with Reid and Reid couldn't help but wonder if he'd pushed too hard, somewhere, or if he should be trying to make a discreet exit.

He needn't have worried. The moment they stepped inside his room, Luke changed completely. It was as if a switch had been flicked and all of Reid's concerns were pushed aside as Luke pushed him back against the door, his mouth meeting Reid's in a fierce kiss.

Luke kissed like he was desperate for it, like he needed it almost more than breathing – and Reid was more than happy to give it to him.

The first round didn't take long. They humped against the door, then the floor, then the bed. It was only there that clothes finally started coming off and their pants were barely around their ankles when Luke came with a soft groan.

Reid watched it all happen and, well, Luke was so pretty that it didn't take much for him to follow after.

Luke seemed a lot more relaxed when that was out of the way and after their clothes were removed completely, they kissed and touched and stroked on the bed until they were both revved up enough to go again.

Seeming only too happy to get fucked, Luke made it clear that he'd be happy to bottom though he quietly admitted that 'it'd been a while'.

Finding that statement unimaginable – Luke was gorgeous and incredibly responsive – Reid nonetheless set to work making sure it'd be as pleasurable as possible. Reid had always considered himself an attentive lover and that paid dividends now as Luke gasped and writhed and, in the end, demanded that Reid get inside him _right fucking now_.

Reid couldn't often be accused of being a gentleman, but he could hardly refuse a request like that.

*

Hours later, at some ridiculous time in the morning, they were snickering together as they stuffed their faces with the snacks from the mini-bar. Luke had raided it a while ago and while Reid found it ridiculous that anyone was willing to pay the exorbitant cost, at least it was on Luke's dime.

Reid was over-tired, stuffed full of sugar, currently lounging naked next to a hot guy he'd recently had the pleasure of fucking and...yeah. It was fair to say that his mood had greatly improved.

“So, you do this kind of thing a lot?” Luke asked without judgement, sucking a smudge of chocolate from the side of his thumb. “One night stands?”

“Not particularly,” Reid said. “Every now and then.”

Nodding, Luke was quiet for a while before confessing, “This was my first.”

That did not come as a surprise. “I figured.”

In response, Luke studied him cautiously. “Was it...was I...?”

And Reid was reminded of just how young the guy was. He didn't technically know Luke's age, but he had to be drinking age at least which meant Reid probably had more than a decade on him. “It was great, Luke,” he assured him because this was one area that Reid was never a dick about. “Seriously. You've got nothing to worry about.”

Looking more confident, Luke bit enthusiastically into a tiny chocolate bar. “Good. Thanks?” He chuckled. “I really don't know what to say in this situation. Oh,” he thought suddenly, “but you were great, too. Like, honestly, ten out of ten.”

It just made Reid laugh again, because Luke was so naïve but so _likeable_. He told himself it was the exhaustion. Or the sugar rush.

Throwing the wrapper to one side, Reid set about removing left-over snack from between his teeth with his tongue. “So, you know I'm a doctor. What do you do?” Reid had tried to figure it out already. It was a very good hotel, but not the best in town. Luke obviously had some money if he was able to stay there. Unless his job was paying for it...

Apparently still in a very good mood – being fucked by Reid tended to have that effect – Luke started ribbing him. “I thought you didn't do 'the small talk'?”

“Well if you're gonna be like that,” Reid retorted, shifting as if he was about to move off the bed when he really had no intention of going anywhere.

“Okay, okay,” Luke caved, grabbing Reid's arm to make sure he didn't go. Once he was sure Reid wasn't actually leaving, he finally answered the question. “I run a charitable foundation that specialises in grass-roots support for at-risk teens.”

Reid hadn't seen that one coming. “Sounds worthy,” he commented. “So are you looking to expand into Dallas?”

“That's the idea,” Luke confirmed, sitting cross-legged on the bed. “I was proud of the work I was doing but it never seemed like enough, you know? I had a...” he lowered his head, “...rough time as a kid, and I want to reach as many kids are possible, not just the kids in Illinois.”

Luke was sounding too good to be true. “That's where you were based before?”

“Yeah.”

Not the furthest state from here, but not right next door, either. “Why Texas?”

Seeming a little embarrassed, Luke answered. “I, uh, put a pin in a map to be honest with you. Digitally, anyway. I just...needed to get out,” was all he offered. “Once Dallas was chosen, I packed up everything that mattered to me and headed straight here.” The guy clearly had a set of balls on him. “I was able to get office space pretty quickly through the foundation, but, uh, still trying to decide where to live.”

“Hence the hotel.”

“Hence the hotel,” Luke agreed.

It wasn't long before something else had crept into Reid's mind. “I have another question.”

Luke shrugged easily. “Shoot.”

“Assuming you're not running one of those asshole charities that ends up paying everyone at the top huge salaries-”

“I am most definitely not doing that. I don't take any wage from the foundation at all.”

“Good, because otherwise I'd regret fucking you.” They grinned at each other. “So, you don't take a wage from the foundation. And yet...?” He looked around the extremely nice hotel room, letting it make the point for him.

“Uh, yeah,” Luke said, looking uncomfortable. “This is one of those things that I never know how to tell people because everyone at home already knew.”

Now he was really intrigued. “What is it?”

In the end, he just blurted it out. “I have money. Lots of money.”

He had to have some, certainly, to stay in this kind of hotel until he found an apartment. “How much money?”

Luke almost looked regretful as he said it. “Millions.”

That was more money than Reid had been expecting, he wasn't going to deny it. Luke seemed worried about his reaction, though, so he decided to be magnanimous. “No wonder you could afford to raid the mini-bar. I gotta make a note of this when I get home: _Dear Diary, today I fucked a millionaire_.”

Relieved, Luke flopped back against the pillows with a laugh. “Seriously, you can't imagine the drama it causes when most people find out. They either want the money, or hate you for having the money, or think you're doing something wrong with the money. Honestly, that's part of the reason I started the foundation; just so I could get rid of most of it. And at least this way the money's being used for something worthwhile.”

Reid could understand that. “Family money?”

“My biological father,” Luke nodded, and there was definitely a story behind that. “Things didn't go well between us,” he admitted, “when I was younger.” He glanced away again. “It was his way of apologising.”

“Well, hell,” Reid drawled, because it was a crime for Luke to ever look sad, “any time your bio-dad wants to apologise to me, he's more than welcome.” Luke rolled towards him, grinning. “I'm sure an offer of, oh, five? Ten million dollars? Would be more than enough apology for me.”

Watching him for a while, Luke eventually pressed a hand against Reid's arm. “Thank you.”

What was that for? “For what?”

“For not being weird about the money,” he said seriously. “For not being weird about me, when I clearly had no idea what I was doing.”

“Everybody's gotta learn sometime,” Reid shrugged. “Any one night stands you have from now on will be a breeze.”

“Thanks to you,” Luke said cheekily, reaching up to Reid's face, and Reid didn't see any reason to resist at all when Luke tugged him down for a chocolate-themed kiss. When he pulled back, Luke opened his eyes. “You need to be up early tomorrow?”

Reid was liking where this was heading. “No.”

“Good,” Luke said decisively before rolling on top of him, “because I have some catching up to do.”

*

When Reid woke the next morning he indulged in a slow return to full consciousness, rather than his usual and immediate reaction to his alarm going off. There was no alarm this morning – he didn't have work, unless there was an emergency – so Reid just let his brain, and his body, slowly get used to the idea of getting up.

Though the sheets weren't the freshest, for obvious reasons, the bed itself was incredibly comfortable and Reid stretched, yawning, enjoying the reminder of last night's sex that he could feel over much of his body.

Reid had always appreciated the way good sex left your body feeling the next day. A little sore, a little worn out, but a lot satisfied.

Speaking of satisfied, Luke wasn't still in bed with him but Reid could hear him moving about somewhere nearby. Luke's room was technically a suite rather than a hotel 'room', with a couple of rooms connected together. His money explained how he could afford it, but with the amount of money he claimed to have he could've easily sprung for the penthouse or even a more exclusive hotel.

Reid made a more than decent living, but he wasn't a millionaire by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the rich people he knew didn't hesitate to blindly spent their cash on anything and everything they wanted, cost be damned. It didn't even cross their minds to think about it. Reid didn't judge them for that in particular – it was usually their politics or hypocrisy he ended up judging them for – because what the point in having all that money if you didn't spend any of it?

Luke's style of living it up, though? Splurging on the entire snack contents of the mini-bar?

Somehow Reid found that much more appealing.

Luke himself, who was equally appealing, suddenly strode into the room, smiling when he saw that Reid was awake. He was dressed, sadly, though this time he was in casual clothes rather than a suit.

They made him look even younger.

“Morning,” Luke greeted, completely unfazed that it was the morning after his first one night stand. “There's food, if you want.”

Stomach rumbling at just the thought of eating, Reid rolled out of bed as he realised it'd probably been breakfast arriving that'd woken him. His used the bathroom first, grabbing a quick shower before brushing his teeth with a complementary toothbrush and making use of the facilities.

When he emerged, wrapped in a soft hotel robe and walked into the next room to see what was for breakfast, he couldn't help but wish that all his hook-ups ended this way.

“Nice spread,” he said, pulling out a chair at the same table as Luke. There were a couple of trays of food – fruit, toast, cereal and even some eggs and bacon, too.

“We had quite the workout last night,” Luke said impishly, so different to the man he'd been when they'd been riding the elevator to his room last night. “I was starving so figured you would be, too.”

Reid had already started slathering butter onto a piece of toast and couldn't decide what to have next. “You realise you're ruining me for the next guy I sleep with, right?”

“Ah, yes,” Luke said in a evil voice, stroking his chin like a clichéd villain, “that was my cunning plan all along.”

Huffing out a breath in amusement, Reid bit into his toast.

Breakfast continued that way, staying comfortable and vaguely amusing. Luke was funny, in his own way, and so laid-back that it was frankly a relief. There was nothing worse than a one-night stand who got weird or too-awkward the morning after.

They chatted occasionally, easily, and after they both finished up their meal, Luke produced a business card from somewhere.

“Okay, so I know this is meant to be a one-time thing – the hint's kind of in the name,” Luke waggled his eyebrows. “But I had a really good time. If you'd like to do this again, give me a call. I'm...in the process of changing my personal number, but you can always reach me through the foundation.”

Reid tended not to do repeats but took the card anyway, reading the contents.

_Luke Snyder, CEO  
The Luke Snyder Foundation_

The foundation's website and phone number were printed neatly underneath.

“Fancy title,” Reid mocked, a little.

Luke just rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “I know, I kind of hate it, but most states require a President or CEO and it is my foundation. I tend to get more hands on with stuff than I should – I'm meant to leave that to people who are far better at their jobs than I am – so I don't even feel like a CEO half the time. But...” He shrugged. “It is what it is, I guess. Anyway,” he changed tacks, “that's how to contact me. If you're interested, great, if not – no harm, no foul and thanks for the experience, I guess.”

It was all very civil.

Ten minutes later, Reid was back in the bedroom getting dressed. Carefully placing Luke's business card in his wallet, he was shoving said wallet into his back pocket when Luke's phone caught his eye – mostly because the screen had just turned on. The phone was resting on top of a dresser and was still on silent, but was clearly receiving a phone call.

Grabbing his jacket from the chair, Reid made his way out of the room, peering at Luke's phone as he went by.

_Noah  
calling..._

Knowing it was none of his business, he resolved to forget about it as he went to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye to Luke consisted of pressing him up against the wall next to the door and giving him the raunchiest, filthiest kiss imaginable. Reid had had a very good time, after all – Luke deserved a reward.

Luke responded in kind – as he had all night. Once they'd started having sex, though Luke's words were sometimes hesitant his actions never were. He showed that same certainty now, kissing Reid back just as passionately, just as fervently, one hand grabbing Reid by the hair while the other grabbed Reid's ass.

Yeah. Definitely the best one-night stand of his life.

It was a shame it wasn't going to happen again.


	2. Chapter 2

Reid enjoyed his day off a little more than usual – jerking off to memories of the night before – and returned to work the day after a happier man. Even he could acknowledge that he was much more chipper than usual, something most of his colleagues pointed out. He even overheard Williams say that he must've gotten laid and was still in such a good mood that he didn't even go to HR to make a complaint.

He knew they all hated him, anyway, and that'd never bothered him. If he went to HR every time someone said something about him it would've been a full-time gig.

But as that day passed, then the next, then the next, Reid realised that he still kept thinking about that night. About Luke, specifically. How desperate he'd been for Reid to get inside him. How passionate he'd been about...well, literally everything they did. There'd been no artifice, he hadn't held anything back. He'd just openly wanted sex, and he'd wanted it with Reid.

At the beginning, Reid had been under the impression that Luke hadn't had a lot of experience, especially as he'd always seemed so surprised at how good everything felt. In the end, though, he'd taken it up the ass like a seasoned pro, so what the truth was was anyone's guess.

It was only natural, Reid told himself. He'd helped an attractive young man through a rite of passage – his first one night stand with another guy. Reid had practically performed a public service. He felt a little smug about it, if he was honest, and even a little good about himself.

Of course it'd keep playing on his mind.

*

Reid cracked on the Tuesday.

He hadn't lost another patient but he had been banging his head against a brick wall in the form of red tape all day. He hated when money was the issue, when patients like Desiree ended up not getting the help they needed because of cold, hard cash.

Unfortunately, in the medical industry, that happened a lot.

Reid had managed to get her into a clinical trial that'd just tanked, and with her parents having no insurance and no money of their own she'd basically been left to die. Reid had done what he could, put her parents in touch with local organisations who tried to help people in her situation, but the outcome didn't look great.

It'd been a particularly frustrating and difficult day, so when Reid left work, he didn't even hesitate.

“Thank you for calling The Luke Snyder Foundation, this is Marie speaking. How may I direct your call?” Marie's voice was disturbingly chirpy. Reid didn't envy anyone who had to fake being that happy that badly.

“Uh, Luke Snyder, please.”

“And who may I say is calling?”

“Reid,” was all he said, because he realised that was all Luke knew him as. He began to wonder if he'd even get through when Marie spoke again.

“Oh, Mr Snyder told us you might be calling. Hold one moment, please.”

Satisfied, Reid dug his keys out and headed towards his car. He'd just unlocked and opened the driver's side door when Luke spoke.

“Reid, hey!” No one was ever that enthusiastic when they knew it was Reid calling.

“Hey,” Reid said, feeling a smile pull at his mouth as he slid into the car, closing the door next to him.

“It's good to hear from you,” Luke told him, which seemed genuine enough. “You wanna meet up?”

Sitting back against the driver's seat, Reid just said the truth. “Yeah, I do.”

“Sounds good,” Luke replied easily. “You wanna grab food or a drink first, or do you just wanna meet at the hotel?”

For once, Reid wasn't in the mood for food. “Let's just meet at the hotel.”

“No problem. You know where my room is,” he teased. “I'm still at work so I'll probably be there in...forty five minutes?”

“I'll be there in fifty,” Reid said, and hung up.

If the traffic was on his side that gave him just enough time to take his car home and grab a cab to the hotel. He wasn't paying overnight parking charges for anyone.

Reid arrived at Luke's room only two minutes late and had barely knocked on the door when it swung open, revealing a smiling Luke.

He was still dressed from work, though his suit jacket was off. His shirt sleeves had been rolled up to show his forearms and he even had a tie on today, though it'd been loosened and hung around his neck comfortably. Reid just wanted to eat him alive.

Luke didn't jump him straight away this time, losing the smile a little instead, studying Reid as he shut the door. “Another bad day, huh?” Reid grunted. “You want to talk about-?”

No time for that now. Grabbing Luke by the tie, Reid tugged at it firmly, walking backwards towards the bedroom. “I didn't come here to talk.”

Luke certainly didn't mind, seeming downright pleased at these turn of events as he moved closer, shoving Reid's jacket from his shoulders. “My mistake,” Luke grinned, and then grabbed his face and kissed him.

*

They were taking a breather sometime around 9pm when Luke brought it up again.

“I'm not trying to turn this into something it's not,” he said honestly, passing Reid a tiny bottle of water from the mini-bar, “I know you're not the love of my life or anything. But we are both still human beings and sometimes it – helps. Talking to people. Human being to human being.” Sitting on the bed, he leaned towards Reid and made an encouraging face, like he knew Reid was a human being and actually had feelings, too.

Reid had no idea how he was able to convey that much with one look.

Reid had already given up his self-control by contacting Luke in the first place. He might as well go the whole hog. “There's this patient.”

“Okay,” Luke said, shifting to face him fully.

“It's a long story – you wouldn't understand all the medical details – but she was promised a spot on a trial and now she won't get it. And Desiree's parents have no insurance, no money...” Reid's voice drifted off, frustrated. “And I'm not asking for a hand-out, that's not what this is,” he made it clear, gesturing towards Luke. “You couldn't really do that much anyway. Just throwing money at the problem won't really fix it – the entire system's flawed.”

“It is,” Luke agreed sadly, studying him attentively.

That was the part that was so hard to reconcile, working as a doctor. Reid hadn't become a doctor to help people specifically, he liked the challenge. Some could argue that demanding that people like Desiree dredge the money up from somewhere was simply another challenge, but there was a difference between overcoming a hurdle and watching a person die.

“Anyway,” he rubbed at the side of the nose, “it doesn't really matter now-”

There was a knock on the door to Luke's suite, making them both swivel their heads towards the other room.

“Don't move,” Luke told him. He hurried into the bathroom, returning a moment later in the process of tying a robe on. Reid had every intention of following Luke's advice, but when – not long after leaving the room – he heard Luke's voice go up in surprise, he sat up.

Deciding he'd probably be a while if he recognised whoever was at the door, Reid heaved himself out of bed and pulled on his pants. As he walked closer to the door separating both rooms, he finally started picking up words.

“-was very clear that I needed to get out of Oakdale. Alone.”

“And I respect that, Luke,” a male voice said, and when Reid reached the door he could finally see the man Luke was speaking to. He was well dressed, probably in his forties, and had a completely unidentifiable accent. “I'm fully intending to let you make your own choices, I just...had to see for myself that you were okay. You wouldn't let anyone contact you, apart from Lucinda.”

“Because she was the only who actually listened to what I had to say,” Luke informed Accent Guy. “At least she finally convinced Mom to stop calling.” They clearly knew each other personally, maybe a relative? Though they looked nothing alike.

“Fair enough,” Accent Guy said. “But I couldn't speak to you, so you see why I had to check. I had to make sure nothing had happened to you, that no one had-”

“Kidnapped me and taken me to another country?” That...was a very specific example.

“I deserve that,”Accent Guy replied, which, _what?_ Had he actually kidnapped someone? Kidnapped Luke? “I'm sorry, Luke,” the guy said, now wearing a charming smile as he grabbed Luke's shoulders. “You know what we Grimaldi's are like, hmm? We love uncontrollably.”

This was, apparently, not a theory Luke was unfamiliar with as he ended up sighing and saying a fond, “Yeah, Damian. I know that.”

“Good,” Damian announced, removing his hands. “So, you're doing well?” He finally looked towards Reid, showing no surprise at all, when before that moment Reid would've laid money on the fact that he'd had no idea Reid was in the room at all. “I can see you've been keeping yourself,” he took in Reid's half-naked state, “ _busy_.”

Turning and realising that Reid was watching, Luke followed his obvious first instinct and started introducing them. He was also the most flustered Reid had ever seen him.

“Oh,” Luke said, face flushing, pulling his robe tighter as if that'd hide what they'd obviously been doing. “Uh, Reid, this is Damian Grimaldi, my biological father.” That was a mouthful.

Definitely a relative, then. “Is that how you always introduce your dad?”

That made Luke smile a little, at least. “My childhood was complicated.” No kidding. “And Damian,” Luke continued the introductions, “this is Reid, uh...”

They stood in silence for a few seconds, as all three of them realised at exactly the same moment that Luke clearly had no idea whatsoever what Reid's surname was.

“Oliver,” Reid said smoothly, even as he shook Damian's hand. “Dr Reid Oliver,” he made a point of saying, although he wasn't sure Damian Grimaldi was the type of guy he should get into a pissing match with.

But then Reid had never backed down from a challenge.

“A pleasure, Dr Oliver,” Damian greeted just as smoothly. “I'm sorry to have interrupted.” He looked between them for a few moments before concentrating on Luke. “Anyway, now I know that you're safe, Luke, I will of course honour your wishes and leave you to your independence.” He paused after that, clearly considering something. “Has he been...bothering you?”

Reid thought Damian was talking about him, for a moment, but when Luke spoke he obviously wasn't the topic of discussion.

“No. He's tried, but I have a new number now and the foundation knows not to take his messages. Grandma helped cover my tracks at first - well, from anyone who isn't a Grimaldi, I guess. And even if he does think to try and track me through the foundation, I know he doesn't have the means to get out here anyway.” He shrugged. “I'm good.”

Damian didn't look like he bought it anymore than Reid did, and he had no idea who they were even talking about. “You know my offer still stands.”

“I do, Damian,” Luke said bluntly, “but your offers usually also come with prison time attached so...I'll pass.”

Oookay. Apparently Reid's impression of Luke's dad was entirely accurate. How the hell had a guy like Damian produced a son like Luke?

“If you're sure.” Damian definitely sounded disappointed.

He made his excuses after that, this time putting the emphasis on Reid's title himself when he said goodbye.

As Luke finally closed the door, face still a little red, Reid just had to do it.

“I just met the dad. Already, this is the most serious relationship I've ever been in.”

Rolling his eyes, Luke then threw himself dramatically into a chair. “Sorry about my...” he gestured towards the door. “Everything?”

“No need to apologise,” Reid answered honestly. “You're not the only one who has family drama.”

Luke studied him knowingly. “You too, huh?”

Though he nodded, Reid wasn't about to give details. “So that was the dad. The one who gave you the money?”

“That's the one.”

Yeah. Reid decided he never wanted a dime from Damian Grimaldi.

“Anyway,” Luke sighed, “I totally understand if having my _dad_ turn up has ruined the mood.”

“Well, it is a little kinkier than I normally go-”

“Oh my God, stop it,” Luke demanded with a disgusted laugh, but he was definitely starting to relax.

Good. “Gotta admit, it's a first,” Reid said truthfully. “But I don't scare easily.”

Amused, Luke stood back up and practically stalked towards him, pressing a hand against Reid's naked chest before sliding it down his body. “We'll see about that, Dr Oliver.”

*

The next time Reid walked into his office at work, Damian Grimaldi was there.

Reid did an honest-to-god double-take and almost walked into a filing cabinet.

Making sure he wasn't seeing things, he closed his eyes and opened them again. But...nope. Damian Grimaldi was definitely still sitting there.

He didn't call security, even though he probably should have, because some clearly sick and twisted part of him was actually curious about what Damian was even doing there.

“Mr Grimaldi,” Reid said with bravado, moving to take his own seat at the desk before nodding across at Damian. “What an unexpected delight.”

Damian greeted him with equal amounts of fake-politeness. “A pleasure to see you again. And please call me Damian, Reid.”

“I hadn't expected it so soon. And please call me Dr Oliver, Damian.” Damian's eyes narrowed. “Is there something you wanted to know?”

Finally giving up all pretence, Damian calmly crossed his legs. “Well, I already know your full work and educational history. I know you're excellent at your job, the top of your field. I know the opinion of your colleagues matters little to you, and that even if they dislike you they cannot deny your expertise. I know about your parents, your uncle, your friend Anton, and just about everything you've ever done.”

Reid kept a relaxed expression on his face which was actually a challenge, because he hadn't realised until now just how absolutely cuckoo the guy was. When he'd met him at the hotel last night he'd come away with the impression that Damian was way too invested in his son's life and absolutely couldn't be trusted.

Now he just thought the guy had been hit with the crazy stick.

But even if he was completely loco he also clearly had a lot of money, access to a lot of resources and – Reid was willing to bet – a lot of power. Which made him very dangerous.

What Reid should've been doing was kowtowing to his every demand. If he had any preservation instincts at all, Reid knew he should be quaking at Damian's feet.

That really wasn't his style. 

“Seems you have all the information you could possibly want,” Reid rested his forearms against the desk, threading his fingers together. “And yet here you are anyway.”

“Yes, I'm afraid that even I can't read minds,” Damian told him. “The only way to find out what I really needed to know was to talk to you.”

Instead of just asking a question like a normal person, Damian had gone the crazy person route and done a complete background check. “I'm assuming this is about Luke?” Damian nodded. “You understand that Luke is a grown man, perfectly capable of making his own decisions? And that, in fact, he will probably be insulted by your behaviour today when you promised him, just last night, that you'd leave him alone?”

“I have not broken my word,” Damian insisted. “Just as I said, I have left Luke completely alone.”

And was focusing on Reid, instead. “Semantics.”

“I will not argue your point,” he agreed, “but it works so very often. This is why we must always be so careful when choosing our words. Luciano...” Damian caught himself, which was nicely ironic. “Luke has been through much in his relatively short life. I'm still trying to repent for what I put him through. It has made me...”

“A few sandwiches short of a picnic?”

He clearly had no problem understanding the idiom, if his face was any indication. “ _Enthusiastic_ in securing his happiness.”

“You know that's not how it works, right? If you're doing the parenting thing right you support them, you love them, but then you let them go. It's their life to learn from, not yours to control.”

“But you've never had children, Dr Oliver, so trust me when I say you can't possibly know what it's like to see your son hurt, again and again,” Damien spoke passionately. “To know that you caused much of it, only to finally realise just how much you were hurting him.”

Reid didn't know the specifics, perhaps, but he didn't see a whole lot of difference between what Damian was describing and what he was doing now.

“Look, you seem to think this situation is a lot more serious than it is, so let me make this clear – Luke and I are not in love with each other. Our 'relationship', such as it is, is mutually beneficial but that's all.”

“You're fuck buddies, yes, I'm familiar with the term.” Most other parents probably would've balked at using that phrase in relation to their child, but not Damian. “But Luke wears his heart so openly and easily, he always has. And if he's sleeping with you it means he likes you, which means the potential for something deeper is already there.” That was quite a jump. “When he does love, he gives over every part of himself. We have that in common, you see. His mother, Lily. I know, now, that we will never be together again. But she will always be the love of my life. There will never be anyone else who matters.” He considered Reid silently. “Has he told you about Noah?”

At this point, he'd already decided this 'Noah' was an ex of Luke's, probably the guy Luke had been quietly trying to avoid. “No. Like I said, it's only-”

“Yes,” Damian interrupted, still watching Reid carefully. “Mutually beneficial. Noah hurt him badly, and that...” He clicked the fingers of his right hand. “It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Luke had endured much, but after that...”

“That's why he came to Dallas.”

“As you say. But,” Damian leant forward, suddenly animated. “But there is hope, Dr Oliver. While Luke does love unconditionally, he seems fortunate in that he is able to move on, eventually. I don't know what I'd be able to do to help him if he really had loved Noah, forever.” His gaze went far-off, distant. “It wasn't until after Luke finally ended things permanently that I found out just how unhealthy their relationship had been. How long and how much it had been hurting him.” Focusing back on the present, Damian stared at Reid. “My son has been through _enough_.”

“Definitely getting that impression.”

“Good,” Damian replied, suddenly happy as he either missed or completely ignored the irony. “Then we're agreed!” He sat back in his chair. “Now, if your relationship truly is just physical, then I hope you both enjoy it for as long as it lasts. If, however, it should take a turn for the serious...” All appearance of happiness vanished. Completely. “I urge you to think very strongly about the way Luke should be treated.”

Then, as if he hadn't just threatened to cut Reid's balls off – or worse – Damian stood up. “Thank you for your time, Dr Oliver. I will be telling Luke about this conversation because, despite what Lucinda Walsh thinks, I do learn from my mistakes.” Reid didn't have the faintest clue who Lucinda Walsh even was. “I wish you all the best for your wise decision-making in the future.”

And just like that Damian was out of the office and Reid was left sitting there feeling, frankly, more than a little stunned.

Luke had to deal with _that_ guy as a father?

No wonder he'd got the hell out of dodge.

*

The next time Reid was due for a break he actually took it for once, but instead of relaxing he searched the internet instead.

He needed to know exactly what he was dealing with.

He looked up Luke's foundation first, read up on the work they were doing first hand and the support groups they'd teamed up with. There was even a short bio on the website about Luke himself – with an appropriately dorky photograph, that huge grin was ridiculous – but it didn't really tell Reid anything he didn't already know.

He hunted for information on Damian next, which was as disturbing as he'd expected it to be – though for different reasons. Reid had half-expected to find proof that Damian had done time, or had built a story that after an early life of crime he'd turned into a legitimate businessman.

It was nothing like that. He learned all about Damian Grimaldi, absolutely. Reid discovered that Damian had many business interests but was currently running a shipping company based out of Oakdale, Illinois (a state, Reid couldn't help but notice, that wasn't exactly surrounded by water. It was practically land-locked). He learned that Damian was originally from Malta, a country Reid had heard of but had had no idea of its location until now. He found out that Damian donated to many charities, with a particular focus on the LGBT community.

It wasn't as if Reid had access to criminal databases or anything that'd show someone's conviction history, but...it was all too clean. And the more Reid thought about it, the more he realised how much sense it made. If Damian really was the kind of man Reid thought he was, then there wouldn't be proof of anything, not on the internet. He had the resources, and the intelligence, to appear to be an average businessman.

Reid then focused on Luke personally, away from the foundation and though it took some digging, using Luke's name and knowing the name of the town he came from in Illinois...it was there he hit pay dirt.

Unfortunately, the source of all this information was a local newspaper called The Intruder. The website design was like something out of the stone age and whoever thought white text on a grey background was a good idea should've been shot.

Reid was just lucky there was a digital version at all.

Much of it took reading between the lines and it didn't seem to be much of a gossip rag, so there was nothing about people's personal relationships aside from the occasional wedding announcement.

Actually, there was a remarkable amount of those.

He did, however, start finding some actual facts. Such as the fact that Luke had apparently been paralysed for a while – _paralysed_ – by a Colonel Winston Mayer. Who was later revealed to be his wife's murderer. As well as being the father of a Noah Mayer, who was probably the Noah Luke had been dating.

_What the ever-loving fuck?_

Remembering Luke's comment to Damian, Reid searched for but didn't find anything about him being kidnapped – though he did find an article about Noah being kidnapped by person or persons unknown.

What the hell was this place? Freak Town, USA?

There were a great many more disturbing stories, though mostly about other residents from Oakdale. The only articles that really mentioned Luke after that were when he started the foundation, announcing new projects he was setting up.

He managed to piece a few more things together – Lily Walsh was likely Luke's mom. There were a bunch of Snyder's and Reid could only assume that one of them had adopted him, especially as Luke referred to Damian as his biological father.

Deciding to give up at that point – his head was actually starting to hurt, trying to make sense of it all – Reid sat back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

Did knowing all of this really change anything? Did any of it really matter? It's not like he and Luke were dating, it wasn't down to him to get involved in – or even worry about – Luke's personal life.

The kicker was, he admitted to himself, that he already did give a crap. Luke had somehow become one of those people he actually cared about. It didn't happen often, if at all, but even Reid was only human and occasionally susceptible to _emotions_.

Was it smart to keep sleeping with him, though? Reid wanted the best for the guy but he also wanted the best for himself, and with Luke's creepy dad hanging around that didn't seem like a certain prospect.

Either way, all he knew was that Luke had a right to know about Damian's visit. Damian had said he'd tell Luke about it himself, but Reid trusted Damian about as far as he could throw him.

Yeah. That was the plan. He'd finish work and once he got home, he'd give Luke a call – Luke had given him his new number the night before – and then it'd be down to Luke to decide what to about it.

Simple.

Luke beat him to it.

Damian had apparently kept his word, surprisingly, because Reid had barely been home five minutes when his phone rang. Letting the microwave keep doing its thing, Reid answered the call.

“Hey.”

And then couldn't get a word in for the next five minutes. Or it felt that way, at any rate.

“Oh my God, Reid, Damian told me what he did, I am so sorry, how embarrassing, he actually tracked you down at your _job_ , I cannot believe he did this-”

“Luke.” Apparently Luke had a full-on babble mode.

“-I mean for God's sake, I'm not a child, I haven't really been a child for a long time and – seriously, I'm so sorry about this-”

“It's okay, I-”

“-and he's unbelievable, so unbelievable, he knows what I'm struggling with and he pulls this? I don't know how I ever decided to start trusting him again, this is the worst, he's the worst, I can't apologise enough-”

“Luke, it's really-”

“-and I understand, I totally understand that we won't be hooking up again, I mean that'd probably even scare me off, that was such an asshole move.” Finally stopping, Luke took a much-needed breath. “I'm so sorry, Reid.”

The microwave dinged.

Reid stared at it, mulling things over. “You always apologise for stuff that's not your fault?”

There was no response for a while. “That...was your take away from that?”

“It's just that I heard, what?” He shrugged. “Three, four apologies?”

“Of course you did,” Luke sounded outraged, “Damian's behaviour was inexcusable.”

“Right,” because Reid didn't disagree with that at all, “Damian's behaviour. Not yours. You did nothing wrong.”

More silence. Until... “Well...I...but...”

Finally opening the microwave, Reid dragged his meal out with one hand, hissing as it singed his fingers. Shaking his free hand through the air, he blew on his fingers for a second. “You know putting those words together in that order doesn't actually make a sentence, right?”

“Yeah, I got that, Reid,” he replied sarcastically, “thanks.”

Shrugging, Reid gave Luke some more time, taking the opportunity to delve through the silverware drawer for a fork.

“This is why I needed to go,” Luke admitted eventually, “this is why I needed to get out of Oakdale, it wasn't just about one thing, you know?”

Reid didn't know personally, but he was definitely getting that idea. “Yeah.”

“It's so much,” Luke continued, “the way Noah was, my family, everything around me, _me_ – it's just so hard to take.”

Whoa there, nelly. “First of all, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Secondly,” Reid placed the fork down on the side, “you're not hard to take. Your dad's a lot, not gonna lie,” because, well, Damian. “But you? You're easy. You're not hard to take at all. Well,” he mused, “apart from your dick when it's half-way down my throat.”

As planned, Luke sounded like he was smiling when he finally replied. “You always know the right thing to say.”

“Nah, I just say something sex-related. It's not my fault you're a horndog.”

“Pretty sure it has at least something to do with you.”

“Lies and slander,” Reid retorted, carefully peeling the plastic from the top of his meal. The steam immediately started swirling above as the heat escaped.

Luke wasn't done. “I still feel like I owe you something.”

“You don't owe me dick,” because it was the truth. “I'll happily still play with your dick, but-”

“I see what you mean about the sex jokes.”

“It's so easy!”

Chuckling, Luke tried again. “Let me buy you dinner. And not because I feel like I owe it to you, or because of what Damian did, I just...” He let his words run off. “I know this isn't a relationship, not in the traditional sense, but I still feel like I need to say thank you. For being so cool about...everything.”

Reid stared down at the brown mush that was going to be his dinner. He was actually a pretty good cook, it was just that after a long day at work it seemed like too much effort for one person. “Your dad called us fuckbuddies, you know.”

“He _did not_.”

“Totally did,” Reid confirmed. “And you know we've already got the first part of that term down pat. There's no reason we can't be...”

“Buddies?” Luke asked jokingly, before finishing with a serious, “Friends?”

“Just don't tell anyone, okay?” Reid said seriously. “You'll ruin my reputation.” As Luke sniggered, Reid put the fork back down. “I suppose we should go out and celebrate, anyway.”

“Oh? Why's that?”

He started looking for his shoes. “We just made the step-up from fuckbuddies to Friends With Benefits. Still the most serious relationship I've ever been in,” he clarified, grabbing both shoes with one hand and taking a seat.

“I'm honoured,” Luke replied Very Seriously. “This is truly a momentous occasion.”

“See? You get it. Okay, here's the deal,” Reid instructed as he started jamming his feet into his shoes, “I pick where we eat, you pay for dinner, I pay for dessert.”

“Deal,” Luke agreed. “Where should we meet?”

Reid picked a local hole-in-the-wall that did the best chilli in the area.

“Wouldn't have guessed you'd pick a place like this,” Luke told him later, glancing around as they waited for their food to arrive

“As opposed to what?” Reid asked. “I can't stand those pretentious places you probably eat at all the time.” Luke made a face, knowing Reid was saying it just to get a reaction. “As long as they're stringent about never having a health code violation? This is definitely my type of place.”

“I guess there's still a lot I don't know about you,” Luke said softly.

There was an easy fix for that. “Ask your dad, he knows everything.”

Glaring, Luke picked up his drink. “Loving this friendship so far.”

“Okay, okay,” Reid grinned, deciding to cut him some slack. “I remind you that this is a new area for me.”

Putting his drink back down, Luke placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. “Uh huh.”

“But as I understand it, talking about problems is a thing we might do. As friends. I'm sure some asshole once said to me that it helps. Talking to people.” He held Luke's gaze, even as Luke tried to hold back a smile, shaking his head. “Human being to human being.”

“I wonder who that was?” he asked smartly.

“Can't remember,” Reid lied blithely.

Shaking his head again, Luke still looked amused. “You sure you're ready for that? I mean this friendship has only just started. Are you sure you can cope with that intense level of friendshipness?”

“I know, it'll be a difficult job,” he said intently, playing along like he was a grizzled cop facing down a serial killer, “but somehow...I'll get through it.”

They grinned at each other. “But seriously,” Luke said after a while, face falling a little, “you sure about this? It could take a while and...it's a lot.”

“Look, you know by now that I don't do anything I don't want to do,” he said flatly, watching as Luke shot him a grateful look. “I'm not going to force you to talk about it, but if you want to talk,” he gestured, “talk.”

So he did.

Luke spun the most fantastical, unbelievable story Reid had ever heard. A story of constant betrayal and back-stabbing. Of true love and broken hearts and constant infidelity. Of people who thought of no one but themselves and followed whatever they desired, whenever they desired. And Luke spoke about it all so eloquently, with so much conviction, that Reid knew every word of it was true.

When they got to Noah's green-card marriage, Reid finally ordered a beer.

Reporting Luke to the Dean at Oakdale U? When he hadn't even been the one to stuff the ballot boxes? That was his second.

Telling Luke he'd enlisted and expected him to wait for him for years just minutes after Cyndi Lauper helped them get back together? Well, Reid had to force himself to stop there, because he probably would've ended up drinking all night.

Luke peered at him cautiously. “Are you drunk?”

“No, though I wish I was.” He rubbed at his eyes – then realised his word choice and exactly what he'd been doing. _Shit_. One of the first things Luke had told him about was his drinking. Reid had noticed the transplant scar, of course, but it'd been Luke's story to tell. “If I'm making you uncomfortable-”

“No,” Luke assured him, “one of the things alcoholics have to get used to pretty fast is other people drinking, or even just people talking about drinking.”

Reid didn't feel particularly relieved. “Just tell me if I'm doing anything that makes it worse for you.”

“I will,” he said quietly. “And...thanks. I appreciate that.”

Reid was never going to be drinking much anyway – he hadn't been lying the first time he'd met Luke, when he said he didn't get drunk. He didn't particularly care for the lack of control it gave him, either.

“I don't even remember where I was, now.” Luke said, which Reid understood – he was having difficulty keeping up just listening to it. “You get the picture anyway, I might as well skip ahead to what finally made me leave.” Letting out a long breath, Luke cricked his head from side to side and began. “Noah was taking this film course at college and he had a new advisor, Mason. It was obvious, right from the start, that all he wanted was to get into Noah's pants. Noah refused to hear a word of it, of course, always insisting I was being ridiculous, that it was all my imagination.”

Reid knew what was coming next. “They slept together.”

“Yeah,” Luke said looking pissed which was better than looking sad. “And that was it, I just checked out of everything. I've had a lot of time to think since it happened – months, now, with staying in Oakdale for a while after and the time I've been here – and looking back I know the relationship was dying. Had been for a long time and like an idiot I kept desperately clinging on to what it used to be.” He laughed mirthlessly. “Or what I thought it used to be.” Luke looked at Reid squarely. “I wasn't even jealous or particularly upset when I found out. It was just one more thing, you know? Like, of course they had sex. It took Noah eighteen months to have sex with me, but with Mason he-”

Reid choked on the water he'd just taken a sip of. “I'm sorry, it took him _what now?_ ”

Gratified at Reid's reaction, Luke raised his eyebrows and tipped his glass. “Yeah.”

This concept was one that Reid genuinely found unfathomable. “I wanted to sleep with you the moment I clapped eyes on you. You were the hottest guy in the place by miles.”

Luke smirked. “You remember it was just you and like five old guys, right?”

“The bartender was there,” Reid offered, which made them both smile.

Glancing down at his half-finished meal, Luke's smile faded. “I always felt like Noah never really enjoyed sex. I just figured that was his libido or that he was asexual or something. And I loved him, you know? I could accept that.” He tried to smile again but it didn't quite reach his eyes. “If that was the way he was, I wasn't going to force him to change.” Luke looked off to one side, getting stuck in his head. “I tried, so hard, to give him what he needed. But nothing I ever did was good enough.”

Honestly, right then, Reid completely understood where Damian was coming from. He wanted to wring Noah Mayer's lousy neck.

“But I know I'm just as much to blame as Noah was,” Luke pressed on, a statement that Reid seriously doubted. “He showed me with his actions, again and again, that our relationship wasn't working for him. That the way I did relationships wasn't working for him. But I couldn't – didn't – want to see it. So,” he sighed, “I felt sorry for myself for a while. Then decided that it was time I did what I wanted, what I needed because everyone else always did.”

Sounded like it was beyond time, too. “As the thing you're currently doing, I approve of this decision.” He pushed his plate aside as Luke pursed his lips together. “So, you left it all behind – Noah, your friends, your family.”

He nodded, looking regretful. “Should've done it a long time ago.”

“Better than never doing it at all.”

Luke took those words in, thinking it over. “You've helped a lot, you know.”

“Me?” Reid wasn't one to diminish his accomplishments, but it seemed doubtful.

“With rebuilding my confidence,” Luke explained. “No one's ever _wanted_ me before, not even Noah, not like this.” He waved his hand between them. “It always felt like I was the one going to him, that it was always down to me to start things, physically. Being wanted by someone like you,” he looked Reid over, top to bottom, “having someone openly want me, make an effort for me – that's a first. Well,” he added wryly, “apart from my Granddad.”

Reid pointed a finger towards the ceiling as his brain tried to make sense of what it'd just heard. “Okay, you _definitely_ didn't mention that.”

Luke just laughed.

Sometime later when they were stuffed full of excellent chilli and decent enough ice cream, they walked out of the restaurant together.

“I'm gonna head back to the hotel,” Luke said as he turned to face him, “alone.”

Reid took the hint. “Yeah, I wasn't expecting...” He lifted a hand. “Not tonight.” Without warning, he suddenly had an armful of a grateful Luke Snyder. And not in a naked, sexy way, but in a friendly, cuddly way. “Oh,” Reid found himself saying, letting his hands hang by his sides, “the hugging.”

“Thank you _so much_ ,” Luke said fiercely into his neck, before letting go and walking away as suddenly as he'd hugged him.

Reid's brain currently didn't seem to be operating as its normal level of functionality, so he was just standing there, staring after him, when Luke turned back around.

“You know the funny thing?” Luke called out with tears in his eyes. “You're already the best friend I've ever had.”


	3. Chapter 3

Luke's words that night haunted Reid over the next few weeks. As they continued to spend time together – in bed and otherwise – Reid just didn't get it. Reid didn't really have friends because, one, he couldn't stand most people and, two, most people couldn't stand him.

But Luke? Who'd been nothing but funny and generous? And actually cared about his fellow human beings, trying to make the world better for others in his own way? He shared his emotions a little too easily, that was without question, but the more Reid got to know him, the more he couldn't even view that as a bad thing. Luke wouldn't be half as likeable if he tried to hide who he really was.

The only positive he could see in the situation was that, as the weeks passed, Luke's mood seemed to be improving more and more. Now that he knew Luke as well as he did, there'd been signs early on that'd been easy to miss – the way Luke's brow was always furrowed, the tense set of his shoulders, the pinched look on his face when he thought Reid wasn't looking.

They were all happening less and less, now.

The positives for Reid, though? They were _endless_.

For a start the sex just kept getting better and better. As Luke's confidence grew and they became more familiar with each other, Reid could genuinely say he was experiencing the best sex he'd ever had. It made sense when he thought about it – how could a complete stranger possibly know what really got you off? Maybe that crap about sex with someone you love being 'special' wasn't because you loved them, but because you were so familiar with each other's bodies you knew exactly what to do to get them going.

Reid was also still enjoying getting to know Luke as a person, too. Slowly, he was discovering that Luke's life in Oakdale wasn't completely without merit. His Grandma Lucinda, for example, was someone Reid definitely wanted to meet in person. They'd kind of 'met' over the phone, as he was there sometimes when she and Luke were catching up, though they hadn't spoken directly. She absolutely knew he existed, however, because whenever she realised he was there she'd say something to Luke that'd make him flush bright red.

Luke told him more about Casey – the idiot who'd fixed the election at Oakdale U. Frankly, he still sounded dumb as a box of rocks, but his heart had been in the right place.

He learned about Luke's little brothers and sisters, and while he wasn't particularly fond of kids – as with adults, he took them at a case-by-case basis – at least they were good to Luke, who spoke to them almost every day (Luke would always get stressed out when the calls ended because his mother would inevitably come on the phone and somehow always make things worse. The first time Luke just hung up on her Reid encouraged this behaviour by sucking his dick with so much attention to detail his legs didn't stop shaking for ten minutes. Reid was hoping to get some kind of Pavlovian response going, only with sex instead of bells).

Of course the side effect of all this was that Luke was learning more about Reid, too. Reid showed him all his usual haunts, of which there weren't many – work (where they shared a sneaky handjob in Reid's car on his lunch break), his place (where they christened his bed. And the shower. And the sofa), and the park (where they didn't do anything because _there are children here, Reid, what is wrong with you?_ ).

Though Reid didn't introduce him to anyone – Anton hadn't been there at the time – taking Luke to the park meant he learned about Reid playing chess – which led to Reid telling Luke about his parents.

Not Angus, though. He wasn't ready to share that.

As Reid had predicted, Luke got all mushy when he learned about the accident. By now, though, he knew just how to handle the situation. Luke said nothing about how sorry he was, fucking the shit out of Reid instead and holding him afterwards under the guise of sharing the post-coital afterglow.

This friends with benefits thing was goddamn awesome and Reid almost regretted that he'd never done it before.

Their time together didn't always run smoothly, of course. Reid could still be a dick and Luke could still be a drama queen. Reid got called away at all hours or missed arranged plans altogether. Luke sometimes got so involved in a project at the foundation that he lost track of time completely.

But it worked. Their weird little strangers to fuckbuddies to Friends With Benefits thing worked and Reid was actually satisfied most days now.

Naturally, it all went to hell.

They were at Reid's apartment one night, playing chess – Luke was actually pretty good considering he was little more than a novice, though of course he didn't have a patch on Reid – when Reid mentioned, completely unthinking, about the yoga.

Luke had immediately shoved the chess board aside, demanding right then and there that Reid teach him the ways of yoga – Luke's words – and Reid had tried to resist, for all of ten seconds, but Luke was so happy and overexcited at the prospect that he folded like a cheap suit.

Though he made Luke pick up all the pieces from the chess set first.

It didn't go well. When it came to yoga, at least, Luke had all the body strength and natural grace of a gazelle on ice skates and when he fell over for the third time, laughing hysterically up at Reid, something inside him just...let go.

And he finally knew the real reason Luke's words had haunted him for all those weeks.  
 _  
“You're already the best friend I've ever had.”_

Reid didn't want to be his best friend at all. Except, he did, because being Luke's best friend was awesome – it just wasn't _all_ he wanted. He liked Luke. _Romantically_. Wanted an actual _relationship_ with him.

Reid started panicking. He'd never planned on actually ever having a serious relationship, he had no idea how to deal with this. He'd never been the romantic type, even as a teenager. The most he'd done at that age was quietly pine that maybe one of the school jocks might be a closet case who'd decide to jerk him off. His first love had been science and then medicine and that's all there'd ever been.

His 'relationships' had been primarily one-night stands and hook ups. There was one guy he'd fucked on and off through college, but they'd never even really liked each other, just had great chemistry.

As Reid had gotten older he had thought, from time to time, that it might be nice, occasionally, not to wake up alone. Even though he strongly appreciated his own space and generally preferred his own company to everyone he'd ever met. But he'd never met anyone he liked enough before to seriously think about it – and God knew the people who liked Reid back were few and far between.

So he panicked about it, for three days, before finally tracking Anton down at the park.

It was Dallas so, of course, it was a nice day. Leaving his jacket in the car, he found Anton in his usual place – at the table next to the tree that gave the most amount of shade.

Saying no greeting as he arrived – as usual – Reid quietly slipped onto the stool on the opposite side of the small stone table, taking the opportunity to study the placement of the chess pieces in front of him.

Nothing new there, then. “Still using the same old tricks, I see.”

Anton picked up a pawn and moved it backwards, just to make Reid shudder. “Long time.”

Reid immediately grabbed the pawn himself, moving it back to its original – and correct – place. “You were the one who went out a town.”

“A month ago,” Anton pointed out and Reid had been even more distracted than he'd realised, apparently.

Reid set about improving the placement of Anton's pieces. “How was Franchesca's birthday?”

“Dozens of little kids running around screaming...” Anton mused. “You would've hated it.”

That did sound about as much fun as stabbing himself in the eye with a fork. “But you enjoyed it?”

“The actual birthday itself?” He asked rhetorically. “Not so much. But seeing my grandkid? Yeah,” he said with a smile, “yeah, that's always worth it.” Nodding, Reid continued to not-play chess by just fiddling with the pieces, not sure how to start when Anton spoke again. “So, a month. Work been busy?”

Reid couldn't have really asked for a better in, so he used it even though his face actually felt hot when he started speaking. “There's this guy.” The two of them had never talked about this kind of stuff – there'd never been any 'this kind of stuff' to talk about.

Anton's face may not have betrayed any surprise, but his words did it for him instead. “I don't see you for a month,” he began wryly, “and life as we know it on the face of the Earth changes completely.”

Glaring at him, Reid placed a rook down with a loud thump. “I could just leave.”

“You could,” Anton agreed, smiling a little. “Come on then,” he finally gave in, settling further back on his own stone stool, crossing his arms, “tell me about your boy.”

There was no way Reid was about to get into a deep, involved explanation of everything that'd happened or his feelings for Luke, but...he did need to share something. “He's been through a lot,” he started with. “A ridiculous amount. More than...just about anyone else could survive. He's trying to put his life – himself – in order. The last thing he needs is...”

“You?”

Reid gave in. “Some work-obsessed asshole who's never done this before, suddenly trying to date him.”

Anton pondered for a while. “Anything else stopping you from trying?”

There may have been a list. “His dad is...trouble.” Understatement of the century.

“So are you,” Anton retorted, then thought about it. “You met his father already?”

Reid had a point to make and was sticking to it. “I mean like 'sleeps with the fishes' trouble. I think he might actually be in the mob. Assuming Malta even has a mob...”

Anton finally looked a little surprise. “I...can see why that would be a concern.”

“Right?” Reid demanded, and he was getting into the swing of things, now. “And he's more than a decade younger than me, his entire family should be in their own personalised nut house-”

“You know that hasn't been an accepted term for a long time now-”

“-we already agreed that this was a Friends With Benefits arrangement-”

“Wait, you're sleeping together?”

“-and he's my friend, my _best_ friend, and I've never had one of those before.” Reid stopped, realising his chest felt tight as he stared across at Anton. “Before him...you were my only friend.” Because that was the truth. Before Luke, the only friend Reid had ever really had was the old guy he played chess with in the park. Anton never cared what he was like, that he was brusque and sarcastic and didn't give a crap what people thought. He just cared that he could play chess.

“Kid...” Anton shifted. “You already know what you need to do. You just don't want to do it.” Groaning internally – this wasn't helping – Reid rubbed a hand over his face as he kept listening. “If you like him as much as you say you do, if you respect him as much as you should, then you tell him. And then he makes the decision.” He made a sympathetic face. “I understand that's the scary part.”

“No shit,” was all Reid could manage. This was terrible.

“I know you've always prided yourself on being the type of man who never backs down, just does what needs to be done, consequences be damned, but...” Anton smirked knowingly. “Not so easy when there's love involved, is it?”

_Love?_ Oh, God. “Who said anything about love?”

“Oh, of course,” he mocked, “clearly you have no feelings for your young man whatsoever.”

Holding his head in his hands, Reid groaned. “You have been absolutely no help at all.”

“Of course I haven't,” Anton said pleasantly. “I'm not telling you something you didn't already know. Like I said – you already knew what you needed to do.” He looked at Reid. Held his gaze. “You were just too chickenshit to do it.”

Oh, like Reid was going to fall for reverse psychology. “You actually think that's going to work on me?”

“You tell me,” Anton offered with a relaxed shrug, acting like he didn't have a care in the world, like it really didn't matter to him one way or another if Reid took his advice or-

“Screw it,” Reid said, standing up. Anton was right. He did pride himself on doing what needed to be done, even if it did scare the crap out of him. He wasn't about to stop doing that now.

Anton didn't even look at him as Reid started jogging away, going straight back to his game. “Let me know how it works out.”

Reid didn't call ahead. If he knew for a fact that Luke wasn't at the hotel, he'd probably chicken out. If he knew for a fact that Luke _was_ at the hotel, he'd still probably chicken out.

His emotions were very complicated right now.

His mind kept playing out possibilities and outcomes the entire way there, so by the time he arrived at the hotel he was a lot more...worked up than usual.

As it turned out, Luke was there. He'd recently returned from the hotel gym, too, if his clothing was any indication and Luke being all sweaty in a skin-tight top and jogging bottoms was really not doing a thing for Reid's equilibrium.

This needed to be dealt with, and fast, so it could just be over and done with. Even as Luke started smiling at him in greeting, Reid barged into the room.

“Look, this is how this is going to go,” he announced, turning to face an extremely confused Luke. “I'm going to talk, you're going to listen and then I'm going to leave because I understand that apparently people need time to,” he brought his hands up, using his fingers to make speech marks, “'absorb and reflect' on this stuff.”

Luke still seemed confused, if utterly amused, when he closed the door and asked, “What stuff?”

Reid pointedly did not clear his throat. “Emotions.”

“Emotions?”

“Feelings.” Were his palms actually sweaty?

“Feelings,” Luke repeated. Somehow, despite Reid's perfectly obvious explanation, he clearly hadn't realised yet.

Reid tried again. “I like you.”

Luke smiled gently. “I like you, too, Reid-”

“No,” he interrupted, “in a...feelings-type way. In a 'more than Friends With Benefits'-type way.”

Luke understood it now, there was no denying the shock that appeared on his face. It wasn't particularly long, however, before the shock was quickly replaced with the kind of fondness Reid had literally never seen anyone direct at him before. Not since his parents died, anyway.

“First time you've done that, huh?” Luke asked kindly.

Swallowing around the huge _something_ in his throat, Reid's fingers twitched at his sides. “What gave it away? Aside from the – you know – everything?” Luke wasn't running away screaming, at any rate, so Reid felt like he could risk a little more. “I've been with guys more than once. Have technically been sitting in a restaurant at the same time as the guy I was sleeping with. But actually telling someone I like them for something other than sex?” Yeah, that was a first. “That's a new one. You should honoured,” he joked, badly.

Luke took it seriously, of course. “I am,” he said genuinely, stepping closer as their eyes met. “Reid, thank you so much for being honest with me. I know this couldn't have been easy.”

“You're my best friend,” he blurted out, “I don't want to lose that, but I couldn't not tell you about this either.”

“I get it,” Luke said carefully. “I understand. But you are right,” he announced, finally. “I do need time to 'absorb and reflect'.” He still seemed fond as he studied Reid. “I do like you. A lot. But I'm still working stuff out-”

Reid knew. He knew that. “I know. I'm not trying to pressure you-”

“And I know,” Luke told him honestly, “you wouldn't do that.”

Okay. “Good.” Good. “Okay. I'll be...” he gestured towards the exit, even had the door pulled open when he remembered something that needed to be said. Spinning back around in the open doorway, he spoke firmly. “Do this the right way, okay?”

Not understanding, Luke shook his head. “I don't know what-?”

“Don't do what you used to do,” Reid told him. “Don't think about me, or what I want. Think only about what you want, what you need. If you were...sacrificing your needs to be with me-”

“ _Reid_ ,” Luke said emotionally.

“I'm serious about this.” He honestly couldn't think of anything worse than Luke destroying himself the way he had before, by thinking it was his job to suppress everything and anything he needed in a desperate bid just to try and make someone else happy. “You come first. In all things.”

Reid left, then, because Luke had tears in his eyes and his own eyes seemed to have smoke in them or something, because they wouldn't stop burning.

But he'd done it. He'd actually done it.

And now it was the worst part of the entire situation – now all he could do was wait.

*

Patience was not Reid's best feature, so he threw himself into his work. To most people his behaviour probably didn't look any different – Reid's job was his focus most of the time anyway – but he now approached his work with a single-minded determination that even he had rarely reached before.

Outside of work, he was...struggling. Work was doing a great job of distracting him but even Reid couldn't work all the time. He didn't have a ton of hobbies, either – there was chess and that was about it. His apartment, which before had always been a sanctuary away from the madness of the outside world, was suddenly too big. The rooms too quiet. Reid had always loved living on his own but kept finding himself pottering around from room to room waiting for something – anything – to happen.

It wasn't like they weren't in touch. Luke texted him every day. It was never about Reid's confession – it was the same it'd always been since they'd become friends. A random thought that crossed his mind, a funny picture that he just knew Reid would love (he didn't, but Luke knew that anyway), a dirty joke that'd make him laugh.

Those usually were pretty effective.

The point being that Reid had more pictures of cute little kittens on his phone than any respectable man his age should have, and it didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon even given the current radio silence regarding Reid's more-than-friendship feelings.

After a few days, Reid finally got sick of himself. Managed to pull himself together, at least somewhat. This whole part of his life may have been new to him, but he was still an adult who'd accomplished many great things. He didn't need to fall apart just because he wasn't sure if a boy liked him the same way or not.

He went out more regularly. Usually only to play chess with Anton, but it was better than nothing. Anton knew better than to ask how it'd gone, after his dismal failure of a first attempt. He just let himself distract Reid and in return Reid didn't make fun of his appalling chess skills quite as much as he usually did.

One evening, more than a week after Reid's admission, there was a knock at his apartment door.

Reid had been looking up recipes for the perfect hoagie at the time – he already knew his own perfect filling, but was willing to try something new – so placed the laptop aside and went to open the door.

And froze.

Because it was Luke.

“Alyssa let me in,” he explained, looking unsure, and of course she'd let him in, Reid's neighbours already loved Luke a hundred times more than they'd ever liked Reid. “I called the hospital, they said you weren't in surgery or anything. That you weren't on shift.”

Reid's hand clutched desperately at the door handle. “You could've just called me.”

“Yeah,” he admitted, “but I didn't want to stress you out by letting you know I was coming, I didn't want you worrying the whole time. And,” he jammed his hands into the pockets of his pants, “I was nervous, to be honest.”

A little relieved, Reid pressed his weight against the door. “Why are _you_ nervous?”

“You're my best friend too, you know,” Luke told him. “I don't want to lose that any more than you do. Can I come in?” he asked suddenly, and it was only then that it really sunk in for Reid that they were still standing at his front door.

He shook his head at himself. “Yeah, of course, c'mon.”

There were a few more awkward seconds, but when they were both standing in the main living area, Luke just got on with it. “So I thought about what you said.”

Reid tried to swallow. Wasn't entirely successful. “Okay.”

“And I realised,” Luke raised his shoulders, “we were kind of dating already?”

Say what now? “Huh?”

Fortunately, Luke decided to explain. “When I thought about it, virtually everything we've done since becoming 'friends' is stuff I always thought what being in a relationship should be like anyway.” He started listing examples to support his point. “We spent most of our downtime together, we were sleeping together, we went out and did stuff together, if either one of us was having a bad day, we'd try and make each other feel better. Not that you would've said that's what you were doing at the time,” Luke added, “but it was totally what you were doing at the time.”

Fair.

Luke continued. “We've shared painful memories from our pasts. When we disagreed about something, it wasn't the end of the world, we worked it out and moved on to the next thing.”

All of this was sounding suspiciously positive, in Reid's opinion. 

“And over this past week, I decided,” Reid absolutely did not hold his breath, “that I liked it, a lot. Even though I've still got some stuff to figure out, being with you in that way...works for me. In the terms you put it,” he clarified, “it's what I want. And I think it might even be what I need.”

There was this _feeling_ bubbling up inside Reid's chest. He'd definitely never felt that before, but stepped towards Luke anyway. “So, you're saying...”

“Yeah,” Luke grinned, nodding. “I'd like to try. Being boyfriends. With you.”

There was a grin on Reid's face that just wouldn't go away, though truth be told he wasn't trying very hard. However, just because he was actually dating someone now, that didn't mean he'd changed completely. “Boyfriends? Do you know how old I am?”

“Tragically, yes,” Luke sighed dramatically, “I don't know how you don't look like the crypt-keeper.”

“Why, you little-”

Luke laughed as Reid tickled him until they were pressed up against some piece of furniture Reid honestly didn't care about right now.

“Okay,” Luke said a little breathlessly, still with a stupid smile on his face, “if not boyfriends, then what? Lovers?” He waggled his eyebrows. “Partners seems too heavy.”

“How about,” Reid suggested, “we're dating. And if it keeps working, we go from there.”

Luke just looked at him for a while. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. We're dating.”

Good. And speaking of dating...Reid started pulling away, glancing around for his keys. “We should celebrate; I've heard that's a thing.” He started thinking of all the date-type activities he was aware of. “Do you want to grab a meal? Or is there a movie you want to-?”

“Reid,” Luke interrupted with his words and his body, standing in front of him and hooking his arms over Reid's shoulders. “That's sweet, but...no.”

More than understanding that look in his eye, Reid was all-too-happy to stay in. “No?”

Shaking his head, Luke just focused on Reid's mouth. “I've never put out on a first date,” he 'confessed', somehow sliding even closer, “I think I'd like to try.”

And even as he was shocked into laughing, Reid knew that was it. Luke was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, because there couldn't possibly be anyone else so well-suited to being Reid Oliver's date. Lover.

Boyfriend.

Whatever.

*

Dating Luke Snyder really wasn't very different at all to being Friends With Benefits with him. When they had sex now there was more meaningful eye contact and more cuddling afterwards – both of which he'd initially found weird, but both of which he was now kind of starting to enjoy.

Maybe Luke had been right – maybe they had been dating all along. He would've felt ashamed of his own lack of awareness if not for two reasons – this had never been his area of expertise, and he got to be with Luke, which was turning out to be worth ignoring his pride.

Reid had always figured that relationships were just way too much trouble than they were worth. Being a doctor, he'd seen both sides of many relationships and how they dealt with some tragedy that ended up with a loved one in hospital. He'd seen every reaction you could think of, the best – and the worst – people were capable of when it came to supporting someone they loved.

Honestly, half the time it didn't seem worth it. Either someone died, or someone betrayed or cheated on the other. There was all too much risk.

There was too much risk for Reid even now, but there was nothing he could do about it. Now that he was in this, with Luke? He wanted the whole enchilada, or at least do the best he could to ensure he got the whole enchilada.

He became a little...obsessed...with making sure that Luke was taking care of himself. Not in a needy way, not in a way that got on Luke's nerves but in little, hardly noticeable ways. For example, Luke didn't have a reminder set up to take his meds. When he discovered this, Reid decided Luke was fired from looking after himself, and the next time he was left alone with Luke's phone he set up a daily alarm that popped up with the message,

_Time to take your pills, dumbass_

The next time they slept together, Reid woke up in the morning with two post-it notes stuck to his forehead. One of them read,

_Dumbass, Original Version_

The other read,

_Talk to me next time_

Lesson learned.

A couple of weeks later they were hanging out at Reid's place – something they'd been doing more of lately, despite the convenience of the hotel. Reid had already started to get a little spoiled about never having to clean sheets or pick up after himself and needed the reality check. He had some bolognaise going in the kitchen, hand towel over his shoulder, but when he went to ask Luke if he wanted to taste-test, he realised just what Luke was doing on the laptop.

Perching on the arm at the end the sofa, Reid nodded towards the screen. “That's the first time I've seen you doing that.”

Glancing up at him, Luke shrugged, before turning his gaze back to the apartment listings. “I...wasn't really looking, before? At first I was just concentrating on setting up the new office for the foundation, but...it wasn't necessarily my original plan to try building a life here?” The sentence had obviously become a question in a way Luke hadn't planned. “At the time, I just knew I had to get out of Oakdale and Dallas was just the random hit I got on the map.”

Despite Luke's concern that Reid might take it the wrong way, he wasn't bothered. It was clear, by this point, that Luke wasn't about to disappear on him. “What changed?” Luke gave him a look, like it had something to do with Reid- “ _Oh_.”

“Not just because of you,” Luke added quickly, which kind of ruined the moment. “I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, too – for things to get as messed up here as they were back home. But...” Placing the laptop to one side, he turned and looked up at Reid. “You helped remind me that even if that does happen – it's worth the risk. Sometimes it's worth the possibility that you'll get hurt.”

Reid had to kiss him then because Luke kept showing him, over and over, what a remarkable man he was. And remarkable men deserved kissing – and bolognaise sauce made from scratch by the gifted hands of one Dr Reid Oliver.

“Come on,” he ordered, pulling Luke up from the sofa, “you need to tell me if there's too much garlic.”

In the weeks after that Luke narrowed down the likely prospects, with some requested help from Reid. He'd decided to go the furnished route for now, simply because it was easier, faster and he could afford it.

Reid gave what he felt was some very important and necessary feedback (“Have you seen how low down that sofa is? It'll kill my knees when I'm blowing you on it.”) until, finally, it was Luke's last night at the hotel.

Luke insisted they spend the night there because it was the first place they'd ever had sex. Reid insisted they spend the night there so he could have one last hurrah with the mini-bar.

Though the sex thing was true as well.

Together they packed up all of Luke's stuff he wouldn't need the next day and as Reid took in the small pile of suitcases and boxes, he realised it really wasn't that much. Luke had said to him once that when he'd finally made the decision to leave, he'd 'packed up everything that mattered' and just gone. Luke was the schmaltzy, sentimental type – he should've have knick knacks and keepsakes of memories of times gone by.

But then as he'd left Oakdale behind for a reason, he'd probably left the memories behind on purpose, too.

No matter. He could make new memories here, now.

Realising that Luke had been fiddling weirdly with his pile of belongings for a while now, Reid tried to figure out what the heck was going on. “What's up, Blondie?”

Standing up, Luke looked at Reid, before looking back down at the pile again. Then he looked at Reid again. And then looked down at the pile _again_.

Yeah, Reid had no clue what was going on, but Luke clearly needed to talk about it. “Is this some kind of performance art mime thing? Because I gotta tell you-”

“I have something I need to tell you,” Luke finally cracked. “But you might get angry at me about it.”

Okay. Reid processed that for a minute. “I don't like the idea of being angry at you.” He thought about it. “I do like the idea of the make-up sex afterwards. So, you tell me what it is, and then we'll decide if it's worth the make-up sex together.”

Looking a little less nervous about it, Luke bit his lip before grabbing one of the boxes – a box which Reid knew contained information on projects Luke was either developing or looking into – and placed it on the sofa.

“Okay,” Luke began, tugging the lid off, resting it against the sofa. “I've decided I'm expanding the purview of the foundation.”

So far, this sounded like a good thing. “Okay.”

Tugging a couple of cardboard folders out, he handed them to Reid. “The focus is no longer just LGBT kids who are at particular risk thanks to homophobic parents or other family members. But kids – all kids – with medical needs in Dallas, whose parents can't afford the treatment or can't get the insurance.” Reid's mind was buzzing as he started flicking through the first folder, at the ideas, planning and suggested budgets in front of him. “And I know this is going to be a huge undertaking,” Luke continued eagerly, “I'm not underestimating the scope of this – my people made it clear. I know it's not going to be easy, but we're already talking to the local support groups that exist, looking to work together. They've been very receptive.” He nodded towards the contents of the folder Reid was looking at. “Some of that is ideas to drum up funding to help with medical costs, some of it is trying to draw up strategies to try and change the insurance system, including ways to approach congress, or finding the right hands to grease. It won't work, I know, not yet anyway, but then we'll never achieve anything if we don't even try-”

Reid had heard more than enough and all he could possibly think to do was let the folders fall to the floor and kiss the ever-loving shit out of Luke.

Luke seemed a little dazed, after, but that didn't stop him from talking. “You're not angry?

Reid's hands were still grabbing the sides of Luke's face. “Why the hell would I be angry?”

Gesturing towards the box, he shrugged. “I wasn't trying to deliberately deceive you – initially,” he amended, “I just thought it'd be a nice surprise. But then I realised that I did all this without telling you. And you might think that I was...you know.”

Honestly not understanding, Reid removed his hands. “What?”

“Getting too involved,” Luke spelt it out. “Sticking my nose into your business. Not letting you do your own thing.”

Reid got it now, at least, and was strongly suspecting this had something to do with a certain ex. “Luke, you're trying to help. I'm pretty sure that anyone who isn't a dick would agree that's a good thing. Hell, I'm a dick and I think it's a good thing. I can't believe you'd do this for-”

“It's not for you,” Luke interrupted, soothing the truth with a smile. “Not really. Before I left Oakdale I'd felt...stuck. Personally and professionally, I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere in any part of my life. Working on this?” He glanced back at the box. “It's inspired me again. Helped me focus. Realise what matters in my career.”

There was only one course of action Reid could possibly take and he took it, now, grabbing Luke's hand in his own and tugging him towards the bedroom.

Luke pretended like he had no idea what was about to happen. For all of two seconds. “You got plans for me, Dr Oliver?” he asked, even as he let himself be pushed onto the bed, falling back against the pillows.

“Oh, I got plans,” Reid told him, grabbing and dramatically pulling off the sock on Luke's right foot. “Detailed,” the second sock went flying, “annotated,” he started on Luke's zipper, “plans.”

It wasn't long before Luke was on his back, panting. Reid was above him, two fingers buried inside Luke's ass, watching every nanosecond of Luke's reactions – the way his breath caught, the way he bit his lower lip. How his hands would clutch at the sheets or his feet tried to scrabble for purchase on the bed when the pleasure was just _too_ much. How he'd gasp Reid's name when he touched his dick or massaged his prostate like no one had ever made him feel this way, and Reid was finally understanding that no one ever had.

In the end, it was the first time having sex with Luke when he realised that maybe Anton had been right. Maybe this wasn't just about caring for Luke – maybe it was deeper than that.

He was remarkably sanguine about this revelation afterwards, he thought. He was probably in love with Luke Snyder, and he was good with that. Actually pretty happy about it.

Luke only dozed for a little while after, before getting up 'complaining' that Reid had left him in such a state that he needed a shower before he stuck to the sheets permanently. He didn't look any unhappier about this than Reid felt, who stayed lounging in bed as Luke took a brief shower.

Luke returned in a robe, telling Reid he was breaking out the snacks, which finally gave him the impetus he needed to get out of bed. Hearing the TV turn on next door, Reid headed to the bathroom to take his own badly-needed shower. He took a little longer than usual, actually humming (he'd hate himself right now but he was too happy) as he indulged, luxuriating in the hot water and excellent water pressure.

He was truly going to miss this shower.

The TV was still on next door when he got back into the bedroom and after giving himself a cursory dry down, he saw no reason not to just walk around naked, knowing the eye roll it'd elicit when Luke saw him. He was already looking forward to the reaction when he stepped next door and-

Time stopped.

The TV was still on, but it was on its side on top of the dresser, nearly teetering off the edge.

Luke's box from work had been knocked off the sofa, its contents fanning out across the floor.

The door was wide open.

And Luke was gone. Luke was _gone_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some stuff that might be triggery, so check out the tags for warnings.

Reid had just enough coherence to yank on his pants and then he was stumbling out of the room, eyes frantically scanning the corridor for any clue about which way he'd been taken. He had no doubt that Luke had been taken due to his unbelievable past – but mostly due to who his dad was.

Reid would stake his entire career on the fact that this had something to do with Damian Grimaldi.

Still seeing nothing that'd help, he picked a direction and started running. Luke'd put up a fight – he wouldn't make it easy for them. By now he was probably unconscious if not...worse.

No.

No, if they wanted him dead then why take him? They could've just killed him in the room and saved themselves a lot of trouble.

But they'd taken Luke which meant they had to move him – unconscious or otherwise – which would definitely slow them down. Even if they'd grabbed Luke the moment Reid had stepped into the shower, they couldn't have gotten far.

Reid discovered he was right when he careered around a corner, panting, to see four men in dark clothes standing in the service elevator.

Luke was being carried over one of their shoulders.

Luke's name came out of his mouth without even thinking about it and Reid ran again – faster, harder, than he ever had before. But even as he watched the elevator doors began to close, two of the men raised their weapons – _guns_ – towards him.

Instinct took over completely as Reid threw himself to one side, hitting the wall just as the bullets whistled past his head.

_Holy shit._

He couldn't give himself time to process what was happening, though, he just had to deal with it. Get this done.

That meant moving the moment the doors were shut, reaching the elevator and finding out which direction it was travelling in. They weren't on the top floor, so Reid tried to calculate escape routes if they were going up or down. Helicopter could be a possibility, but-

No. As the numbers on the panel above the elevator door finally changed, he could see the elevator was going down.

The stairs to the emergency exit were right there so Reid took them, door banging against the wall as he flew down the stairs. He didn't know how long it took, he didn't know how many flights of stairs he was running down, life just became a succession of _keep moving_ and _grab the railing_ and _Luke_.

He couldn't stop them. Reid knew he couldn't make that happen, not by himself. But he had to do _something_ , try and be useful. If he could get identifying features or a license plate or anything that'd get Luke back...

He also knew they had to be heading for the underground parking garage. Grabbing Luke from his room in a building populated by other people had been a bold move, but Reid still couldn't picture them casually strolling out the main entrance, toting guns, carrying an obviously unconscious man. No, no, after the initial kidnapping they'd want to avoid high population areas at least until they got Luke out of sight.

Reaching the right level – finally, Reid didn't think his lungs had ever burned this much in his life – he thumped open the door to the parking garage, just in time to see a large, black van screeching away.

_No._

They were still in the process of closing the doors at the back of the van, and Reid could only stare in horror as Luke's still form – already shoved into the back of the van – disappeared from view.

He started running again, but it was too late as the van took the exit ramp and drove out of sight.

Legs giving out Reid fell to the floor, bracing himself on his hands and knees, desperately trying to breathe. _Fuck_. His legs felt like jelly but he needed to get up, needed to tell someone, call the police-

No. No, he had a better idea. Or worse, but it was the only way to really help Luke right now.

Dragging himself back up, Reid started hobbling over to the customer elevator. He didn't have access to the service elevator – the kidnappers shouldn't have either, but they must've gained access to a key or security pass somehow.

The trip back up to Luke's floor was interminable, not helped by the fact that he shared most of the journey with an old couple who kept staring at him. That probably had something to do with the fact that he was only wearing pants and still had damp hair.

When he got back to Luke's room the door was still open so he made straight for Luke's phone, on the dresser in the bedroom. It took only seconds to scan through the contact list and then he was making the call.

“Luke, it's so good to hear-”

“He's been taken,” Reid interrupted, still trying to catch his breath.

Damian changed tracks with barely a pause, suddenly all business. “Method, numbers and time.”

Reid closed his eyes as he organised the information in his head, rubbing at his face with his free hand. “Black van out of the parking garage, four guys – that I saw, anyway, there could've been a driver – and about two minutes ago. I didn't get the plate.” It'd been nearly two months since the day Damian had appeared in his office and Reid had had no contact with him since. He had no guarantee that Damian was even still in the area, but given how obsessive he'd been about Luke, he was willing to bet-

“I'll be there in five minutes,” Damian said, then hung up.

Yeah.

Those five minutes were the longest of Reid's life.

He killed the time by getting dressed, hissing as he pulled his socks and shoes on – he was pretty sure he had carpet burns on his feet. After that, all he could do was wait. He didn't want to touch anything else in case it could be used as evidence, and with nothing to do but wait all he could do was get angrier and angrier at Damian.

When he finally did turn up, expression determined as he took in the scene in front of him – the TV, the mess on the floor – Reid couldn't stop himself.

“What did you do?” he demanded, moving in so close Damian had to back up against the door. “Who did you screw over badly enough that they'd take your son?” As far as Reid was concerned, there couldn't be any other explanation. Luke may have had a crazy history, but he hadn't destroyed any lives in the process.

Damian didn't even deny it. He didn't look particularly intimidated, either. “Former business associates of mine. They contacted me on the way here,” he explained, “demanding a...redistribution of the profits.”

“Yeah, I bet they did. Because despite your pretty words that's the only thing that really matters to you, right? Profit? Power?”

“I remind you that you contacted me, Reid,” Damian said back sharply. “Not the police. Because you knew I had the resources and determination to do what they can't. What they won't. Because I love my son.” His eyes were almost maniacal. “I would advise you not to judge me at the same time as you want to use me.”

His phone went off, then, as it to punctuate the statement.

“If you would,” Damian gestured with a nod, asking Reid to move away, “this will be about Luke.”

That was the only reason Reid backed away.

Pulling his phone out, Damian stepped forward and answered the call with a clipped, “Tell me.” After a few moments he nodded, covering the mouth piece with his hand as he spoke to Reid. “My people have the CCTV from the hotel.”

Already?

But then Damian was right – Reid had contacted him for this very reason. He wouldn't be constrained by laws or morals, he'd just do what needed to be done, as quickly as he could do it.

Reid was already picturing unconscious security guards – if not worse. And this was the man Reid was placing his faith in.

But it had to work. It _had_ to. The alternative was unthinkable.

“Bring the car round,” Damian instructed, then ended the call and announced, “they have the license plate. We're tracking it now.”

Good. “I'm coming with you.”

Tipping his head, Damian seemed unsurprised. “I assumed as much.”

Reid did one last pat-down, making sure he had his phone when he remembered something else. Dashing towards the bathroom, he returned holding Luke's prescription. “His immunosuppressants, in case...”

In case he needed them. In case he'd been gone for a while, when they found him.

_When_ they found him.

“A wise move,” Damian conceded. “Let's go.”

There were two terrifying-looking guys waiting for them in the corridor, even more joining them as they stepped out of the elevator. Reid could only imagine the picture they made. If he'd seen them coming he would've got the hell out of there, STAT.

When they were finally outside the hotel, the car Damian had asked for was already idling out front. Somewhat surprisingly it wasn't a limousine – probably because that was too ostentatious to blend in – but it was dark and clearly expensive. He didn't take the time to catch any more details because he realised there wasn't just one car – there was a convoy. There were three more cars that he knew of – two in front of Damian's and one behind – and Damian's men started filing into them without a word, clearly knowing what they were expected to do.

Damian was already in the back seat of his car, staring at Reid expectantly, so Reid dove in and the car pulled away before he even had the door shut.

As Damian barked instructions at his men, Reid finally took the opportunity to _freak the fuck out_ , because Luke had actually been kidnapped – again – and now Reid was stuck in some kind of hellish mobster movie.

Only it wasn't a movie, because this was very much real life.

“Reid,” Damian's voice said, hand grabbing the back of Reid's neck until he was staring into his eyes intently. “You need to be here,” he insisted, gesturing with two fingers between them. “Luke needs you.”

Brain snapping back in coherency, into purpose, Reid nodded. “Quit it with the bad touch stuff,” he complained, pulling away from Damian's grasp, not about to admit that he'd actually just helped him.

“Boss,” a man said from the passenger seat, “we got 'em.”

They soon learned that the van had been located and was still moving. Damian was pleased, saying that given the distance it'd travelled so far it was unlikely the van had stopped anywhere to pass Luke off to someone else. Luke would still be inside.

There wasn't anything for Reid to do as Damian ordered the cars to split up, so the kidnappers could be confronted from multiple sides. He focused on not getting lost in his head again, at being ready to move at a moment's notice as the city kept flying past, Damian's driver doing an expert job at avoiding what little traffic there was at this time of night.

“We'll be there, soon,” Damian announced, reaching into his coat and pulling out _an actual fucking gun_ – but then what else had Reid expected? “You know how to use a gun?” he asked, removing the magazine with ease, checking the contents before replacing it again with a satisfied nod.

“No,” Reid said with great emphasis. “I'm a _doctor_.”

“Then stay out of the way,” he ordered just as they started hearing gunfire.

They screeched to a stop down a side-street, where Reid could see the van had been forced off the road already, two of Damian's cars around it.

He opened the door without thinking, wanting to get to Luke – then immediately ducked back inside to avoid the bullets.

There were men shooting everywhere, using cars – and hell, anything they could – for cover. Reid watched it all with horror, realising this really was nothing like a movie at all. People were actually dying. Reid had seen plenty of blood in his lifetime and more than enough dead bodies, but nothing ever like this.

He cowered in the car because he had no way to defend himself, but kept an eye out for opportunities. Finally, when it was clear the fight was turning in Damian's favour, Reid made his move.

There was only one kidnapper left alive now, and he'd long since abandoned the van, trying to make a getaway on foot. Damian's men who weren't wounded – or _dead_ – were hot on his tail. Reid picked his way between the dead and the injured, trying to block frankly everything he was seeing out of his head.

The van was remarkably untouched by bullets, though Damian had been extremely clear with his men about not shooting at it. Grabbing the handle at the back, Reid twisted it fiercely and when the doors finally swung open, he saw Luke.

He was still lying in the back of the van. And he still wasn't moving.

“Hey, hey,” Reid found himself saying softly, clambering into the van until he was kneeling next to Luke. “Hey, Blondie,” he said, reaching for a pulse. His shaking hands meant it took him a while to find – which made him freak out completely for a full three seconds – but, no. There it was. Strong and steady. 

Reid continued with his observations. Airway was clear. Breathing seemed good. No obvious external injuries. He was probably cold, though, dressed only in the robe, so Reid tried to cover him up more, adjusting the edges of the clothing.

“You'll be fine,” he told Luke, rubbing a hand over his head. “Your dad actually got it done. I guess he's good for something after-”

Sound made Reid turn his head. 

Standing at the back of the van, one hand clutching at a stomach wound, was one of the kidnappers – far more alive than Reid remembered him being thirty seconds ago.

“Oh, of _course_ you're still alive,” Reid spat and when the guy raised a shaky hand – gun and all – and pointed it at Luke, Reid didn't even think about it.

Didn't need to think about it. Because even if he'd had the time to think, he would've made exactly the same choice.

Getting shot hurt about as much as he fucking thought it would.

Though he heard multiple gun shots he only felt one hit, but then Damian appeared, rolling Reid onto his back, and Reid realised he'd probably killed the kidnapper himself.

Damian looked over Luke, saw he was okay, before focusing on Reid. “How bad?”

“I've been _shot_ , so not good,” Reid said, looking down at himself. There was no exit wound so the bullet was still inside him and he was pretty sure he could feel blood pooling beneath his body. His breathing didn't seem impacted so far, so it might have missed his lungs.

This was not how Reid had ever expected to go out. He licked his lips. “Luke seems good.” This _fucking hurt_. “There's no head injury, they probably injected him with something – does he have any allergies?” he asked, as the thought crossed his mind.

Damian yelled something at his men, then focused back on Reid. “No, none.”

“Good. Good. He should be fine, then, when he wakes up.” Reid was starting to feel cold, and he felt like he was moving, but he also knew he was going into shock. “When he does, tell him-”

“I will tell him nothing,” Damian insisted, reaching over to close the doors of the van as it started to move. “Because you will tell him yourself, the next time you wake up.” He was almost smiling genuinely, which was a very unpleasant experience. “You are far too aggravating to die.”

_If only that was true_ , Reid thought, with a snort that turned into a cough. He immediately regretted it at the pain it brought and the fact that his vision was starting to fade out.

“Rest now, Reid,” Damian told him, his face swimming just above Reid's line of sight. “He will be there when you wake up.”

“You know, the last thing I wanted to see just before dying?” Reid slurred as his eyes slid shut. “Definitely not your face.”

*

Damian's face was also the first thing he saw the next time he woke up.

It wasn't right next to him this time, at least, as Damian was currently sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

Still really not the way he wanted to wake up, though.

As his brain caught up with him, Reid finally remembered everything that'd happened and he tried to move to find Luke – which, yeah, definitely something his body didn't want him to do.

His gasps of pain finally caught Damian's attention, who was up out of his chair and next to him in moments. When he spoke, it was in a surprisingly quiet voice. “Less volume please, Reid, he only just managed to fall asleep.”

Reid would've snapped something about how sorry he was that _getting shot_ was such an inconvenience, but he finally realised what Damian was talking about when he looked to his other side and saw that Luke was there, apparently asleep, in the bed next to Reid's. He had dark circles under his eyes but honestly...he looked amazing. “He's okay.”

“Tired,” Damian told him. “Worried about you. But physically – he's fine.”

Reassured, Reid allowed himself to relax back against the bed – then hissed in pain. It seemed there was really no way to get comfortable when you'd been shot in the back. Reid was just wondering if he'd be able to survive the pain it'd take to roll himself over onto his front, when he realised he should probably take stock of his own situation.

He wasn't on a ventilator, which was excellent news. His lungs hadn't been compromised and he was able to breathe completely unsupported. He'd been shot on the left side of his chest, and as his lungs were fine the bullet had obviously lodged somewhere between his lungs and his arm – which explained why that whole area just felt _wrong_.

A clear-cut medical diagnosis, that.

“What's my prognosis?”

“You'll survive,” Damian told him, which Reid had already gathered. “There may be some lingering damage to your arm and shoulder, which could cause some motor control issues. They couldn't be sure until you woke up, but now that you are I know there are a battery of tests my doctors would like to run-”

“Your doctors?”

“I am paying for your complete medical care and treatment, of course,” he said breezily, like it was no big deal.

Reid had already figured they were in a private hospital – the décor was too nice and Luke had his own bed, despite the fact that he wasn't injured. But this piece of news didn't exactly thrill him, despite the cost and paperwork it'd help him avoid. “Great,” Reid closed his eyes, “now I owe you one.”

“Quite the opposite,” Damian retorted, the strength in his voice making Reid snap his eyes back open straight away. “It is I who owe you. I owe you a debt that can never be repaid.” He glanced to the other bed, at Luke snoring softly. “I am not often impressed, you know.”

Reid really didn't know how he was supposed to feel about this. “Does this mean you'll stop being an overbearing creep with daddy-issues, and just let Luke get on with his own life?”

He never got a response to that question because the door suddenly swung open and a woman he'd never seen before barged inside.

“Damian Grimaldi,” she hissed, “you have quite some explaining to do.”

“Lucinda!” Damian greeted with a huge smile, spreading his arms as he walked towards her. “Always a pleasure.”

“What are you-? Do not even _think_ about trying to hug me!”

Luke shot up in bed, mid-snort, hair sticking up all over the place. “Grandmother!” he yelled. Then looked across at Reid, face breaking out into a smile. “Reid!”

Then he tried to get out of bed too quickly, failed miserably as he got tangled up in the sheets, and fell off the side with a soft thump.

“Any time anyone wants to get my actual doctor in here, feel free,” Reid said, and closed his eyes.

*

Recovering from a gunshot wound was about as much fun as it sounded.

It hurt all the time, a constant, nagging throb. Doing almost anything incited agony, even when he tried to avoid using that side of his body. Then there'd been the extra concern that he might not be able to operate again, but Damian's doctors were convinced, now, that as long as Reid stuck with his physical therapy, he'd get there.

Reid really couldn't picture any of them lying to Damian, so he took it as the truth.

Luke quietly moved into Reid's place without discussion. When he'd been released from the hospital Luke was just there – and the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that. His shoes were causing a trip hazard by the front door and his toothbrush was in a glass on the right side of the sink.

The less said about his collection of hair care products, the better.

Luke was there whenever Reid needed him – but was also learning not to be there when he didn't. Reid had spent practically his entire adult life living alone, and though living with Luke was far easier than he'd ever expected it to be, sometimes he just needed to be by himself.

Remembering Luke's post-it note – _talk to me, next time_ – he'd brought up the subject at breakfast one day. Luke had listened, nodded decisively, then sucked face with Reid for the next five minutes. He'd been more hesitant that usual, still worrying about Reid's injuries, but his message came across loud and clear nonetheless:

_Thank you for telling me._

Luke never did say what'd happened to his new apartment, but he'd made it clear that being here was what he wanted and Reid wasn't selfless enough to ask.

Lucinda stayed in town for a few weeks, which was an experience in itself. The two of them got on like a house on fire – though she had a lot to say about Reid's lack of home decorating skills.

Between her meddling and Damian's...resources, they'd managed to prevent word of Luke's kidnapping from getting back to anyone else in Oakdale. Luke had felt a little bad about it but also admitted that if his mom had found out, nothing would've stopped her from flying into Dallas and he couldn't cope with that, not yet.

Despite the fact that Reid's arm was still screwed up, everything was going well – except the fact that it really wasn't.

One day, as they were coming out of Reid's latest PT appointment, a loud bang sounded somewhere nearby. It could've been anything – a car back-firing, a door slamming shut – all Reid knew was _panic_ and _Luke_ and suddenly they were on the floor together, Reid covered in sweat, desperately trying to protect Luke from the gunfire that wasn't there.

When he came back to himself his arm hurt even worse than usual, everyone around them was staring and he realised he'd _pushed Luke to the fucking ground_.

Luke didn't even need to say anything. When they were back in the car, Reid still somewhat breathless but functional, he was the one to say it first.

“I know I need help.”

Luke nodded, speaking truthfully. “The nightmares aren't getting any better, either.”

No. They weren't. “But, I...” He rubbed a hand over his mouth. “I can't do shrinks. And I can't do it with you, either, you were _there_ and it's about you – but not really and-”

“It's okay,” Luke assured, touching his arm, being the moment of calm Reid needed right then. “Then we'll have to find someone else. Is there anyone you can think of? Someone you respect – someone at work, maybe?” He smiled a little. “I know you don't actually think they're all idiots.”

“Just most of them.” Lucinda crossed his mind but she was already back in Oakdale. In the end, there was only one other person he could think of.

Reid hadn't been back to the park since he'd been shot, so this'd been his longest absence by far.

Nothing had changed. The sun was still hot, Anton was still at the same table, still next to the same tree.

The same couldn't be said for Reid.

“That's him?” Luke asked, nodding towards the table he couldn't stop staring at.

“Yeah.” Reid swallowed.

Sliding a hand along Reid's good arm, Luke headed off. “Give us a minute, okay?”

Unable to stand the waiting, Reid sat on a nearby bench and tried to distract himself by people-watching. It only worked so far, there were only so many times you could watch dogs take a dump, and he hated this, he just wanted to leave but...

He couldn't take the chance that he'd ever hurt Luke again.

“Hey,” Luke's voice said, and Reid turned to look at him. “He's ready for you.”

Anton nodded at him when he sat down, moving a knight. “Hell of a thing.” Yeah. Yeah, it was. “You're lucky to have him.”

Reid snorted, watching Luke playing with a Pomeranian in the distance. “Understatement of the millennium.”

Grunting, Anton spoke. “Your boy tells me you might wanna talk about it.”

“Not really.” He hated this idea, but it was a necessary evil. “But I think I need to.” It was starting to get too much for Reid already, and he found himself retreating into old habits. “You still suck at this game.”

“I may suck at chess,” Anton conceded easily, “but at least I didn't push my boyfriend over.”

Reid froze. Narrowed his eyes.

Oh, it was on.

*

Life didn't get magically 'fixed', but it did start to improve, slightly. The more he talked to Anton, the less frequent the nightmares became. Reid still couldn't watch anything that had shooting in it without breaking out into a cold sweat, but he still considered it progress.

Talking about it was helping Reid unpick a few of his other issues, too, and one afternoon he drummed up the courage to bring it up.

Luke had already bared himself for Reid when they'd only just been friends, had torn his whole life open and showed Reid everything he was. Reid couldn't do anything less.

“I want to tell you,” he said slowly, “about Angus.”

So he did tell Luke, about his uncle. How he took him in, after his parents died. And how he made Reid's life a living hell.

“I think he blamed me for the accident?” Reid said like it was a question, when he still had vivid memories of Angus yelling that it was all Reid's fault that he'd ended up 'stuck' with him. “We were driving to a chess tournament when it happened. I was the only one who survived.”

Shifting next to him on the sofa, Luke touched his arm. “You never told me that before.”

Reid tried to focus back on Luke's face, on what was right in front of him. “Told you what?”

Luke's face was pinched, pensive. “That you were in the car when it happened.”

Shrugging, Reid looked away. “Not the kind of thing you want to think about a lot.”

He continued talking about how Angus had hurt him – not often, but enough. How Reid had to do everything around the house. That if he needed anything he had to pay for it himself, and Angus didn't care if that meant stealing or leaving an eight year old kid to find ways to make money.

Luke's hand was warm and comforting on the back of his neck.

“Luckily when I was turned eighteen I got access to the life insurance money from the accident – my parents had arranged legal protections on it, which meant Angus couldn't touch it.” He shrugged. “Maybe that was another reason he hated me.”

“Your parents were smart,” Luke said, eyes wet.

“They were,” Reid agreed, his own eyes burning. “They were so smart. So why couldn't they see what he'd do to me?” Still, to this day, Reid couldn't understand how they'd thought to protect the money but not their son.

Losing all composure then, Luke just threw his arms around Reid and pulled him close. “You're not alone now,” he whispered, voice thick with tears as he stroked the back of his head. “You're not alone.”

Reid couldn't even manage to hug back – and he wanted to, for once – just slumped against Luke, closed his eyes and blew out a shaky breath.

_Not alone._

*

Reid was home by himself one day when – joy of joys – Damian appeared at the door.

Staring at him, Reid did not feel in the least bit inclined to invite him inside. “Luke's at work.” Now that he was back at work full-time, his plans for the foundation were continuing apace and it was easy to see just how much his job was satisfying him.

“Oh, I'm well aware of Luke's location right now,” Damian said like that was a normal response, and Reid could swear the guy practised being that creepy in the mirror or something.

“So it's me you want to see,” Reid figured out, abandoning all hope as he turned and walked back into the apartment. “Swell.”

Damian didn't close the door, though he did step inside. “I'm pleased to hear that you continue to improve,” he said, actually seeming genuine. “And not just your arm,” he gestured towards it. “Injuries of the mind are sometimes the hardest to cope with.”

What was most disturbing about any of that was that Reid knew for a fact that Luke had shared none of this information with Damian. Having had more than enough already, Reid pinched the bridge of his nose. “What do you want?”

“To help,” Damian insisted. “I just thought you'd appreciate knowing that the rest of my former business associates – the ones who weren't there that night – have been taken care of.”

“Did you just admit multiple homicides to me?”

“Don't be ridiculous,” Damian grinned like the damn Cheshire Cat, “'taken care of' could have so many connotations. Regardless,” he quickly moved on, “even if I had, we both know you'd never tell anyone.”

Damian held his gaze and – yeah. He had Reid by the short and curlies. Reid had seen so many illegal things that night – murder included – and he'd kept his mouth shut about all of them, because Luke had been safe and that was only thing that mattered.

And, shit, thinking about that night still wasn't easy for him – and he sure as hell didn't want to freak out with Damian in the room. “That all?” he ground out.

Damian responded calmly, as if nothing was amiss at all. “I'm also here to let you know that nothing like this should ever happen again. I...miscalculated.” Was that an apology? “But rest assured, steps have been taken now to ensure that Luke – and yourself – will be protected.”

Oh God, now he was being protected by the _mob_. “How about you stay away from Luke? That might solve the problem.”

Tipping his head to the side, Damian made a face that said he didn't necessarily disagree. “It might, but that's not going to happen. As I'm sure you know by now, Reid,” he held his gaze with a knowing look, “we Grimaldi's love uncontrollably.”

*

He told Luke about Damian's visit, of course, and it seemed like Luke was finally accepting – whether he should or not – that he'd never fully escape his old life, not completely.

It made him pensive, quiet for a while. Before getting shot Reid would've tried to distract him with sex, but since the shooting there'd been basically none of that. Luke had been too worried about hurting him and Reid – much as he loved sex – hadn't exactly complained. He didn't relish the idea of causing himself more pain, either.

So he couldn't do the sex thing, and though he was working on the emotions thing that still wasn't particularly easy, either. In the end he just asked Luke if there was anything he wanted him to do, because he couldn't just sit there doing nothing while Luke was upset.

Luke just smiled gratefully and told him he already was doing something.

It was only later, in bed together, that Luke finally spoke about it.

“Reid?”

Opening his eyes, Reid blinked into the darkness. “Hmm?”

“I know I'm gonna have to go back one day.” He sounded...resigned. Sad.

Reid pulled him closer. “To Oakdale?”

Luke shifted to turn more towards him. “Yeah. My little brothers and sisters are there. I can't never see them again, miss all of their childhood. And...I can't leave them there alone, you know?” He sounded so worried. “I don't want them to go through anything like what I went through.”

Pressing his nose into Luke's hair, Reid understood. “I get that.” He didn't like it at all, but he understood.

There were a few moments of silence and when Luke finally spoke again, his voice was quiet, small. “When I do go...will you come with me?”

There was only one possible answer and Reid said it, moving his head so he could finally see Luke's face, look him in the eye as he told the truth. “Yeah,” Reid said, stroking the side of his face. “Yeah.” He'd never seen Luke coming, but he had and, as it turned out, it wasn't just the Grimaldi's who loved uncontrollably. “I'd go just about anywhere with you, Mr Snyder.”

~FINIS


End file.
